Pundit urges FA and government to ‘grow up’ and allow Chelsea fans to buy tickets for FA Cup semi-final

Chelsea suffered a huge blow when the UK government sanctioned owner Roman Abramovich due to his links with Vladimir Putin.

As part of the punishment the Blues have been unable to sell tickets, meaning next month’s trip to Wembley Stadium could be particularly underwhelming for fans.

Chelsea progressed to the semi-final of the FA Cup as they beat Middlesbrough at the weekend, meaning the squad will travel to Wembley to take on Crystal Palace on April 16.

The London club will be unable to sell tickets to their clash with the Eagles and former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan has criticised this decision.

“There’s not going to be a shortage of people that can pick up the tickets,” he told talkSPORT.

“You give allocations to the clubs, you give allocations to dignitaries.

“What we don’t want is a stadium full of people that are sort of the liggers of football that hang around it and get the corporate tickets and all the FA badges and FA ties.

“We don’t want those guys in there. We want people that support the clubs.

“So, in an ideal world, the FA and the government have got to grow up and say, ‘Our job is to make sure that the transfer of this ownership isn’t, in any shape or form, benefiting a Russian owner’.

“That’s the key component – but that doesn’t mean you stop them from taking revenue.”

Despite the sanctions, Chelsea’s form has been unaffected since Abramovich’s assets were froze earlier this month.

Thomas Tuchel’s side have since enjoyed three consecutive wins, conceding only once and also progressing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

With a date of any potential takeover unknown, the Blues face an interesting end to the season with silverware in both the Champions League and FA Cup still available to them.