Thomas Tuchel insists Roman Abramovich is fully behind Chelsea’s call for peace in Ukraine but claims he has not spoken with the club’s owner about his decision to pass on his stewardship.
On Saturday, Abramovich surprisingly announced that he is giving his ‘stewardship’ of Chelsea to the trustees of the club’s charitable foundation.
Abramovich, who denies any link with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, has made the move after the UK Government announced a list of sanctions against Russian banks, oligarchs and companies earlier this week.
Chelsea followed this up with a brief statement on Sunday describing the ‘situation’ in Ukraine as ‘horrific and devastating’, but made no reference to Russia’s aggression.
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‘The situation in Ukraine is horrific and devastating,’ Chelsea’s statement read.
‘Chelsea FC’s thoughts are with everyone in Ukraine. Everyone at the club is praying for peace.’
When asked if Chelsea’s statement which called for peace included Abramovich, Tuchel told Sky Sports: ‘Absolutely, it includes him and it reflects my opinion and everyone else’s within the club.
Asked if he had spoken to Abramovich, Tuchel replied: ‘No, we have not.
‘Which is not unusual I have a daily conversation with Petr Cech and regular conversation with Marina [Granovskaia], they are both in charge in football and in my understanding they will stay in charge so that will not change a lot for me, actually
‘I did also not say that is was ‘difficult’ it was just a distraction because we are aware and watching news. We are concerned and we are a bit shocked of the situation…
Source : metro
