Fans had turned on Chelsea and Russian owner Roman Abramovich ahead of their Premier League fixture on Tuesday, with some taking to the roads around the stadium to express their disgust at the proposals before the visit of Brighton to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Tuesday night.
Crowds were filmed shouting obscenities about the Super League and its vice-president, Real Madrid president Florentino Lopez, just as the news broke that the club was “preparing documentation” to ditch the hugely controversial plans.
Abramovich is said to have overseen the decision. “[He] decided Chelsea could not go ahead with joining the ESL and, together with the board, he gave the green light for the club to start preparing documentation to pull out,” Matt Law, the football correspondent for UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph, tweeted.
Chelsea goalkeeping legend Petr Cech was seen remonstrating among the crowds amid the chaotic pre-match scenes, shouting “let the bus go in” while surrounded by police.
“I couldn’t drive in – the police told us not to,” said former Arsenal forward Alan Smith. “Fair play to Petr Cech for trying to calm them down and get a game of football on. I’d love to see Arsenal withdraw tonight. I’d love them to make a statement.
“It’s only been 24 hours and they’ve folded already, some of these clubs. I just cannot believe they would be surprised by the amount of [protests].”
Chelsea diehards claimed that they had launched the collapse of the ill-received Super League, with Manchester City and Atletico Madrid swiftly reported to be following suit.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, who had pleaded with journalists to understand that he was “not part of the board” and “not involved in these decisions” in his press conference on Monday, appeared to echo accusations that the Super League would lack a competitive element, with established leading clubs all-but guaranteed qualification in the new competition while the route in for new challengers was narrowed.
“I spent the last 45 minutes on the bus, waiting to be allowed to come to the stadium,” Tuchel told Sky Sports after kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes because of the disruption outside.
“I don’t know anything about that. I’m in a super-competitive club, and that’s why I’m here and I was super-excited to join the club.
“I trust the club and it’s all about competition. That is what I feel in the dressing room. This is what everybody feels when they watch our team play.
“We were fighting so, so hard to get to the Champions League semi-final. We were giving everything in the FA Cup, this most traditional cup.”
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