UKRAINE INVASION: Chelsea manager understands why the club may face criticism

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel admitted on Friday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “clouded his mind” and those of his Chelsea players ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.

Chris Bryant, the Labour MP, said in the House of Commons on Thursday that the government should seize the assets of Roman Abramovich, Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner, citing concerns about alleged links to corruption.

Abramovich is believed to be close to the Russian president Vladimir Putin but was not on the list of individuals sanctioned by the British government. Tuchel said that he understands why the club may face criticism.

“The situation for me, my staff, and everyone here at Cobham, the players, is horrible,” Tuchel said. “No-one expected this. It’s pretty unreal. It is clouding our minds, it’s clouding our excitement towards the final.

“It brings huge uncertainty — much more to all the people and families who are more involved than us, and our thoughts are obviously with them.

“To a certain degree I can understand the critical opinions towards the club and towards us who represent the club. We cannot fully free ourselves from it. But maybe people also understand that we – me as a coach and the players as players — we don’t really have the insight, what’s really going on.

“We don’t feel responsible for what’s going on [but] we feel that it’s horrible. Let’s wait. We are privileged to live in peace and freedom, still privileged to have a game of football, to have an emotional but peaceful environment in the stadium.

“This is a hardcore reality check [on] how privileged we are and I don’t think this will go away, that my mind is clouded, and I don’t think it will go away for anybody, because the issue is too big.”