Chelsea supporters may be allowed to attend their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, despite ongoing sanctions prohibiting ticket sales for the team's fixtures.
The Football Association has announced it hopes to allow Chelsea supporters to attend their last-four clash with the Eagles at Wembley.
The FA revealed talks with the Government on amendments to Chelsea’s operating licence to allow tickets to be sold for the FA Cup Wembley showdown.
Any new tickets are not allowed to be sold by Chelsea, as a result of sanctions imposed by the UK Government on Roman Abramovich following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
But the FA has now revealed discussions on a solution to allow Blues supporters to attend the Wembley encounter as normal.
“We hope to have sell-out crowds at both of our Emirates FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium,” said an FA spokesperson.
“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 whilst respecting the sanctions that are currently in place on Chelsea.”
The FA Cup semi-final fixtures are set to be played on the weekend commencing on Saturday April 16.
Mr Abramovich was sanctioned by the Government on March 10, with Downing Street claiming to have proven his links to Vladimir Putin.
The 55-year-old put Chelsea up for sale on March 2, amid Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.
Chelsea were able to progress to the FA Cup semi-final after overcoming Middlesbrough in the last round with a comfortable 2-0 victory.
The West London club had called for the quarter-final clash to be played behind closed doors after they were forced to return thousands of tickets.
Despite this, 600 Chelsea supporters were able to make the trip to Teesside, as they had already bought tickets before they were taken off sale.
Chelsea fans in the away stand during the Emirates FA Cup quarter final match at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough. Picture date: Saturday March 19, 2022.
Richard Sellers
Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech (centre) celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Emirates FA Cup quarter final match at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough. Picture date: Saturday March 19, 2022.
Owen Humphreys