Football 'offers distraction from horror'

English Premier League managers Thomas Tuchel and Ralph Hassenhuttl have both expressed their horror at events in Ukraine since Russia invaded as football tries to focus on being a welcome distraction.

However, Chelsea's Tuchel, whose club is owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, was forced to demand journalists stop asking questions as he was probed over the war and the club's future in the event of possible sanctions.

"How often do I need to say it? It's horrible, of course, it's horrible, there cannot be any other opinion about it," a visibly angry Tuchel told a news conference ahead of Chelsea's fifth round cup tie against Luton on Wednesday.

"Everybody in Europe has some noise in (their) head that nobody likes.

"I can only repeat (myself) and I even feel bad to repeat it because I never experienced war... I'm very privileged, I sit here in peace and I do the best I can but you have to stop asking me these questions. I have no answers for you."

Asked if he was worried about Chelsea's future, Tuchel said his players and management team were trying to focus on their jobs.

"We try to be calm, and we are calm in the centre of a storm or of some noise around us that we cannot control and we are not responsible for it," he said.

"In the end it's best to focus on what we love and what we do, and this is sports. And I think we have the right to focus on sports, the players have the right to focus (on it).

"This is what we can do for the fans -- to distract them, to entertain them and do what we do with a maximum effort and a maximum commitment."

Southampton manager Hasenhuttl said he was struggling to concentrate on his job ahead of West Ham's FA Cup visit.

"I think there is nobody around who is not talking about it