Chelsea are worried that the latest restrictions imposed on the club due to owner Roman Abramovich being sanctioned by the UK government could mean they run the risk of flouting Financial Fair Play rules, as per a report on i Sport. 

The London club have been banned from selling tickets, meaning they are to operate with only the season ticket holders allowed in for home games.

Chelsea beat Newcastle at home, thanks to a late Kai Havertz winner in a full stadium. But, the capacity crowd won’t exist for long due to the government restrictions limiting Stamford Bridge attendance to only season ticket holders.

Chelsea have been told to limit the away games travel expenses to £20,000 and to operate within a £900,000 threshold for home games. 

FFP rules state that club can only spend what they earn, and Chelsea’s income of £2m from home games will be heavily affected. The situation isn’t expected to improve until a sale happens, the money from which will not be making it’s way to owner Roman Abramovich. On Saturday, the Russian billionaire was disqualified by the Premier League from being a director of Chelsea, effectively meaning he isn’t allowed to own the club anymore. 

The European champions face Middlesbrough in the FA Cup on Saturday and are believed to be lobbying hard to get the government to relax the rules, citing that the cap of £20,000 set wouldn’t cover flight expenses, according to the report published in Telegraph.

Manager Thomas Tuchel joked after the match that if the squad can’t travel by flight or train, the German was ready to drive a seven-seater to the France for their Champions League game against Lille.