Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has revealed that he is happy the club’s proposal to play their FA Cup tie behind closed doors was eventually withdrawn. The Blues asked the English FA to be able to play the game behind closed doors but that proposal was met with backlash from across football.

With Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich currently under sanctions by the UK government, it has seen several reports indicate that the Blues are struggling to make things work. So much so, that the Blues proposed to play their FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough behind closed doors but that was met with a lot of disdain and backlash from fans, critics and even the Boro. Both sides released statements with Boro criticising Chelsea for their proposal although the Blues later withdrew it.

That was confirmed by the English FA although that hasn’t stopped the club from reciving backlash as Thomas Tuchel also admitted that he’s happy the team withdrew the request. The Chelsea boss revealed that it had nothing to do with him or the team but believes that it was the right decision to withdraw the proposal as they would love to play in front of as many fans as possible.

“That was our responsibility, not mine or from the team. Let me put it like this: we love to play in front of spectators and I don’t think spectators from our opponents should suffer from the consequences,” Tuchel said, reported ESPN.

“I think the proposal was withdrawn and it was absolutely the right thing to do because that was from our side and hopefully it was not meant like this. It was not the very best idea, to put it like this. We love to play in front of spectators. Me, actually, and the team, were not involved in this decision and I am happy it was withdrawn, very happy.”