CHELSEA could be forced to play their Champions League quarter-final home leg behind closed doors… if they get there.
Thomas Tuchel’s side take a 2-0 lead to French Champions Lille in tonight’s last-sixteen second leg.
But crippling sanctions imposed on the club in recent days mean they could be without fans for a crunch quarter-final home match, should they progress to that stage.
Chelsea are not allowed to sell any match tickets while still under the ownership of Roman Abramovich, with the billionaire Russian oligarch having his assets frozen.
Uefa are not willing to sell tickets to fans directly, which could result in the game played behind closed doors.
The club have been placed under a special licence allowing them to operate but not generate any revenue.
Latest Chelsea news
Season ticket holders are still allowed to attend games but their packages do not cover European ties.
The EU slapped further sanctions on Abramovich on Tuesday, with uncertainty on what that means for the Blues should they progress further in the competition.
Uefa, though, are committed to doing all they can to keep Chelsea in the tournament and are working with both the club and the EU on a possible resolution.
Interestingly, if they reach the Champions League final for a second year in a row, fans WILL be able to attend.
CHELTENHAM FREE BETS AND SIGN UP OFFERS – ALL THE LATEST DEALS FOR THE RACING THIS WEEK
Uefa sell final tickets to fans directly, with gate receipts not split by the finalists.
That means the club would not profit in any way from tickets being sold.
Elsewhere, Chelsea have been allowed to hire a private jet to take them to their FA Cup clash at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium on Saturday.
The Government have cleared the club to fly to the North-East, according to the Telegraph, after Tuchel and Co had faced a gruelling 10-hour round trip on the coach.
Latest Cheltenham offers
The £20,000 cap on match travel expenses has been waived for the clash, enabling the club to hire a jet.
Just under 700 Chelsea fans will also travel north after the club returned 3,200 tickets to Boro that they were banned from selling.
Chelsea had originally demanded the match go ahead without ANY fans ‘for matters of sporting integrity’, before later withdrawing their outrageous appeal.
Middlesbrough themselves have now put the tickets on sale to home fans.
