Chelsea Boss Thomas Tuchel Says "Stop Asking Me" About Roman Abramovich & Ukraine

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has urged reporters not to ask him any more questions about the club's owner Roman Abramovich or Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Tuchel was presenting a press conference on the eve of Chelsea's FA Cup game with Luton Town, but the match itself was low on the agenda for the journalists present.

The press conference was held less than three days after Abramovich had released a statement claiming that he was "giving trustees of Chelsea's charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC."

It was then suggested over the weekend that Abramovich may be able to use his alleged influence with Russian president Vladimir Putin to broker peace in Ukraine.

As one reporter began asking Tuchel about this on Tuesday, the Chelsea manager interrupted him and hit back, as quoted by The Athletic: "Listen, listen, listen, you have to stop, I'm not a politician.

"You have to stop, honestly. I can only repeat it and I even feel bad to repeat it, because I never experienced war. So even to talk about it I feel very bad, because I'm very privileged.

"I sit here in peace and I do the best I can, but you have to stop asking me these questions, I have no answers for you."

Thomas Tuchel was asked multiple questions about Ukraine, Russia and Roman Abramovich on Tuesday

IMAGO/Sven Simon

The Chelsea Foundation has not yet agreed to take over from Abramovich, according to Sky Sports, because they are determined to first ensure that their running of the football club would be compatible with UK charity law.

Abramovich's decision to pass the stewardship of his club to Bruce Buck, John Devine, Emma Hayes, Piara Powar, Paul Ramos and Sir Hugh Robertson came after the Russian was named in British parliament by MP Chris Bryant last week.

Mr Bryant revealed that Abramovich had been flagged as a person of interest by the UK's Home Office three years ago due to alleged links to the Russian state.

"I've got hold of a leaked document from 2019, from the Home Office, which says in relation to Mr Abramovich: 'As part of HMG's [Her Majesty's government] Russia strategy aimed at targeting illicit finance and malign activity, Abramovich remains of interest to HMG due to his links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices,'" Bryant told the House of Commons, as reported by The Guardian.

Bryant went on to allege that Abramovich had previously admitted to paying for "political influence", before suggesting that the Russian should have some of his assets seized and should not be allowed to own Chelsea FC.

Abramovich still owns the club and his assets have not been seized. His decision to step back for the time being was a move to "protect Chelsea from the attention he's getting", according to Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol.

But there is now so much uncertainty around Chelsea.

Abramovich pictured at Stamford Bridge in 2003 - the year he bought Chelsea Football Club

IMAGO/PanoramiC

Tuchel was asked on Tuesday whether Abramovich's position as owner had become a problem for the club.

"It's a bit too much for me to answer," he replied. "I'm not aware of any details, and I'm not aware of the whole situation.

“We all agree there are situations much, much more important than football. This will never change, and situations like war are of course much more important. The role of Mr Abramovich is not on me to comment, because I simply don't know enough about it."

Tuchel was then asked how much he and his team had been distracted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He snapped back: "You always start the question with the same sentence: 'We know there are much more important things than football, but can you comment...' You decide also to ask me about war, and how often do I need to say it? It's horrible, of course it's horrible. There cannot be any other opinion about it, and that's it.

"But why should we be more distracted than you at work? That's what I meant. Of course, it's out there and we know there are more important things out there. That will never change. This is about sports. There are a lot of more important things out there, and there is a huge distraction going on and we are worried, but still we try to create an atmosphere to come to work and focus on our work, which is our passion. We are very grateful and privileged to have it, and it's not that big a problem.

"I think everyone in Europe has some noise in their head that nobody likes, and it's probably the same for you. But still you try to do your job as good as possible and it's exactly the same for us."