Chelsea’s technical and performance adviser Petr Cech said the club must live “day by day” in the wake of sweeping economic sanctions imposed by the British government against owner Roman Abramovich. Abramovich was one of seven other oligarchs sanctioned by the UK this week following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Chelsea have been given a special permit to continue operating, but there are fears they will soon run out of funds unless the terms of that deal are relaxed. As it stands, the Blues will not be able to sign players, renew contracts, sell match tickets or merchandise, including limits on how much they can spend on travel to away games.
Cech was one of the stars of the Abramovich era on the pitch as a goalkeeper for 11 years at Stamford Bridge between 2004 and 2015 before returning to the club in 2019.
He is the top Chelsea official to speak publicly since the sanctions were announced this week and he could offer no guarantees that the club could survive until the end of the season.
“We have to admit that we go from day to day because we don’t have this in our hands,” Cech told Sky Sports.
Chelsea said in a club statement this week that they would seek further negotiations with the government over a license change “to allow the club to operate as normally as possible.”
Cech added: “Talks are continuing so that we can actually work on the way we can end the season.
“I think if we can do that, finishing the season would of course help everyone involved in the Premier League.”
Chelsea are third in the Premier League and are also still involved in the knockout stages of the Champions League and the FA Cup.
On the pitch, Thomas Tuchel’s men responded impressively to the chaos, winning 3-1 at Norwich on Thursday.
Tuchel said he had also been given no guarantees about what the future holds.
“I think anyone who provides insurance cannot be trusted, because no one knows – this is my opinion – what will happen,” said the German coach.
However, he insisted he and his players are still in a “privileged” position as he again condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
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“It’s hard to just focus on football,” he added.
“However bad and so terrible the situation in Ukraine and the situation where Russia started this war, which is unbelievable and unacceptable and terrible, there are so many things that are much more important than football.”
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