European Union impose sanctions on Roman Abramovich

“The FA remains in ongoing discussions with Chelsea, the Premier League and the Government to find a solution that would enable both Chelsea fans to attend games and away fans to attend Stamford Bridge, whilst ensuring sanctions are respected.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Sports Minister Nigel Huddlestone gave evidence to the Department of Media, Culture and Sport select committee and said the government may amend its licence to allow Chelsea to sell tickets, so long as Abramovich does not profit from the move.

He said: “The measures we have taken and the licence we have given to Chelsea is to precisely stop [Chelsea going out of business]. It is to allow Chelsea still to play, for staff to still be paid, to honour ticket sales already, and we are discussions with Chelsea and the fans to see if we can allow further ticket sales, because we want the sanctions to hit those we intend to hit and not others.

“But we want to ensure the sanctions hit those we intend to hit and there is minimal impact elsewhere. But there will be inconvenience as a result. We would welcome the sale (of the club) and we would change the licence to enable that sale, and that would be important for Chelsea.”

The Premier League also revealed on Tuesday their intention to introduce a new independent panel to scrutinise the ownership and sale of clubs – but not before Abramovich is expected to complete the sale of Chelsea.