Steve Gibson in The Athletic.
Steve Gibson, the Middlesbrough chairman, has responded furiously to Chelsea’s request to play their FA Cup quarter-final match at the Riverside Stadium behind closed doors, telling The Athletic that “Chelsea and sporting integrity do not belong in the same sentence.”
That statement brought a withering response from Gibson, the Teesside native who played a pivotal role in rescuing Middlesbrough from liquidation in 1986 and continues to bankroll the Championship club.
“Chelsea and sporting integrity do not belong in the same sentence,” he told The Athletic. “Where is the intellect of Bruce Buck, the chairman of Chelsea, who has been an apologist for his owner, where the trophies won over 19 years have come from the corrupt money provided by Abramovich?
“Where is the intellect of the chairman of Chelsea when it comes to playing his games at home in front of his season ticket holders? Does he want to play all his away games at empty stadiums?”
Chelsea admitted in their statement that Middlesbrough “had been kind enough to extend their deadline for ticket sales and stadium allocation”.
“We’re not going to try and help them any more,” Gibson said. “Abramovich has been kicked out of football and Bruce Buck should be kicked out of football, too.”
A further Middlesbrough statement read:
“We are aware of Chelsea’s request to have Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup sixth round tie played behind closed doors and find their suggestion both bizarre and without any merit whatsoever.
“All concerned are well aware of the reasons Chelsea have been sanctioned and that this has nothing to do with Middlesbrough Football Club.
“To suggest as result that MFC and our fans should be penalised is not only grossly unfair but without any foundation.
“Given the reasons for these sanctions, for Chelsea to seek to invoke sporting ‘integrity’ as reason for the game being played behind closed doors is ironic in the extreme.
“We currently await formal notification from the FA of the next steps but rest assured MFC will resist Chelsea's actions in the strongest terms.”
