The London club was entitled to 4,500 tickets at the Riverside Stadium, where the match will take place.
But it has been hit since last Thursday by restrictions linked to the freezing of the assets of its Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, which notably prohibit him from selling any new tickets for his matches, at home or away, and the Blues had no elapsed only 5 to 600 places before that.
"It is important for the competition that the game against Middlesbrough goes ahead, however, it is with extreme reluctance that we ask the (English Football Federation) to order the game to be played behind closed doors out of consideration for the game. 'sporting fairness', announced Chelsea in the middle of the day.
An argument that made Middlesbrough jump, whose response was not long in coming.
"Everyone knows why Chelsea have been sanctioned and it has nothing to do with Middlesbrough," wrote the club, which had beaten Manchester United and Tottenham in previous rounds, in a bitter statement.
"To suggest that, for this reason, Middlesbrough and its fans should be penalized is not only totally unfair but also completely unfounded," 'Boro' added.
"Given the reason behind these sanctions, that Chelsea seek to invoke + sporting + fairness + to justify the match being played behind closed doors is ironic in the highest degree," he continued, assuring that he would oppose "as strongly as possible" to this request.
The initiative of the Blues even had the gift of annoying its own supporters.
While "strongly demanding" that the government reverse the ban on the sale of new tickets, the Chelsea Supporters Foundation (CST) has asked its own club to withdraw its request.
"Playing behind closed doors does not benefit any supporters. CST are asking Chelsea to withdraw their request that the Middlesbrough game be played behind closed doors," he said on his Twitter account.
© 2022 AFP