Chelsea not distracted by sanctions on director Tenenbaum, says Tuchel

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said the team were focused on Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace and had not been distracted by the British government imposing sanctions on club director Eugene Tenenbaum. The British government said on Thursday it had imposed sanctions on Tenenbaum in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with his assets frozen. The government cited Tenenbaum's close association with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who was already under sanctions.

"I saw it yesterday and there is not much more about it. For us, I don't know the implications and what it means for the club," Tuchel told reporters on Friday. "Right now, it's not a further distraction.

It's just one more of the same time... It's about the sale and the board, that process. "It's no new subject so for me, from my point of view, that here at the training ground it is far from as big a distraction as you may think when you see it on TV as breaking news." Tuchel said he was not aware of new developments in the proposed takeover of the club, adding that talks were still going on.

The German manager said Chelsea, who won the Champions League last season, were disappointed to be knocked out in the quarter-finals this campaign but they were happy with their display in the 3-2 second leg win away to Real Madrid this week. "We are all a bit in between. Confidence wise, I think it's a huge boost but it's a disappointment to go out of the Champions League at the quarter-finals," Tuchel said.