The FA working with UK government, Chelsea for FA Cup semifinal ticket arrangements

Chelsea are not allowed to sell any new tickets to any of our games in any of the competitions we’re involved in at the moment, including in the Premier League, in the Champions League, or in the FA Cup. In the case of the latter two, where we don’t have a large group of existing season ticket holders to fill most of the stadium, that means that our scheduled matches would have to take place without any Chelsea fans.

And while The FA were happy to let that happen in the quarterfinals — save for the 600 pre-bought Chelsea tickets — they evidently don’t want a half-empty Wembley for our FA Cup semifinal against Crystal Palace in four weeks’ time.

As confirmed in a statement today, The FA are actively working with the UK Government to come up with “a method to achieve” tickets for Chelsea supporters. Considering that we weren’t even allowed to give away tickets for free the last time we asked, let’s hope that we have some more reasonable people making decisions this time around.

“We hope to have sell-out crowds at both of our Emirates FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium.

“This includes tickets for Chelsea supporters for their match against Crystal Palace, and we are working with the government on a method to achieve this while respecting the sanctions that are currently in place on Chelsea.”

-The FA statement

An eminently workable solution could involve incoming funds being placed in a frozen account and used to help run the club as well, just like we are currently doing with broadcast revenues.