February 26, (THEWILL) – In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Thomas Tuchel has confessed that calls in the parliament for penalties against Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich have produced “many uncertainties” at the club.
The German is preparing his team for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley, where he hopes to win his third trophy in a year after winning the Champions League and Club World Cup.
Tuchel, speaking to the media on Friday, confessed that the Russian-Ukraine war has been “worrying” and “distracting” for his players, with scrutiny on Abramovich, who has owned Chelsea since 2003, growing by the day.
Although the 55-year-old Russian is yet to face government consequences, Tuchel stated that it has been difficult to focus on football concerns with Abramovich’s name being mentioned regularly in the House of Commons.
“There are so many uncertainties around the situation of our club and of the situation in the UK with scenarios like this that it makes no sense if I comment on it,” Tuchel said. “We are aware of it, [but] we do not have as much inside information as you think.
“I am aware of all these scenarios and I am aware of all these discussions. I would love to take my right not to comment on this until there is a decision made. But we are aware of it and it’s distracting us, it’s worrying us.
“To a certain degree, I can understand it to such a degree, the opinions and the critical opinions towards the club, towards us who represent that club. I can understand that and we cannot fully free ourselves from it.
“Maybe people understand that me as a coach or the players, we don’t have the insight about what is really going on. At the moment, we don’t feel responsible for all this. We feel that it is horrible and there can be no doubt about it. War in Europe was unthinkable for me for a long period.
“The impact is clear and the discussions have an impact. Let’s be a bit more patient and understand what the measures will be and then we have to maybe deal with it.”
Tuchel continued, when asked if it was feasible to focus entirely on football: “I think you can’t. I think the situation is too big and it is not an isolated situation somewhere. It concerns Europe, it’s in Europe and we are part of Europe. We cannot say let’s put this to the side. It’s the opposite. We have to live with it right now. There is no running away from it.
“There is no shutting the doors and now we focus on football. We are still privileged to live in peace and freedom right here where we are right now.
“And we are still privileged to have a game of football, to have an emotional but peaceful environment with fans in the stadium. We are very, very, very privileged, so this is a hardcore reality check right now. How privileged we are. And I don’t think this will go away, that my mind is clouded. It will not go away for anybody. The issue is too big.”
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
