The Ricketts family are flying to London to meet key stakeholders of Chelsea as they wait to discover if they are on the shortlist of preferred bidders for the club.
The race to buy Chelsea is hotting up with the Raine Group meeting now to create a shortlist of the best-placed groups to take control of the club, with an announcement expected imminently and ownership of the Premier League club to change hands within a month.
The purpose of the Ricketts’ trip is to meet key stakeholders of the club, including the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust and the Chelsea Pitch Owners.
However, the family have faced backlash from the head of the Chelsea Chicago Supporters Club, Brian Wolff, who posted a letter to Twitter on Monday opposing the Ricketts’ potential takeover of Chelsea.
He wrote: “As the head of Chelsea Chicago Supporters Club, and the Chelsea Fans’ Forum Overseas Representative, I’ve had a unique position hearing what supporters in Chicago and worldwide have said regarding the Ricketts family’s bid for Chelsea. I can report the vast majority of opinion has been universal disdain.
“The Ricketts’ political donations, fundraising and support for candidates who do not share the inclusive views of Chelsea Football Club and its supporters are wholly inconsistent with the 19 years of fantastic work done by the Club and the Chelsea Foundation, most notably as a leader in committing to a Living Wage and efforts to protect and promote equality for BAME and LGBTQ+ communities.
“Their ownership of the Chicago Cubs baseball and redevelopment of Wrigley Field raises serious doubts whether they will build upon the Club’s success on the pitch, and also the continued existence of the Chelsea Pitch Owners and the goal to keep Chelsea Football Club playing at Stamford Bridge as our forever home.
“On behalf of countless supporters worldwide, I urge you to reject their bid for ownership of Chelsea Football Club in favour of others who will commit to not only building upon the last two decades of investment in players and infrastructure but equally important – the investment in supporters and the values which we hold dear.
“If not, I fear many Chelsea supporters WILL ‘be booing in a year’.”
The last line refers to an incident in January 2020 when Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts was booed by fans as he unveiled a new network dedicated to the baseball club over what was seen as a lack of activity during the offseason.
Former Chelsea winger Paul Canoville tweeted later on Tuesday that he was against the Ricketts family owning the club, instead showing his support for the Chelsea Supporters Trust.
Meanwhile, Tom Ricketts also had a telephone conversation with Conservative MP for Chelsea Greg Hands on Monday before heading over to the UK.
The Ricketts family are one of several interested parties from America in the Chelsea bidding process. The Chicago Cubs owners are backed by billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who is the most valuable individual associated with Chelsea bidding process.
The family are joined in the race by a consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly, with that group representing another American powerhouse in the race.
Nick Candy improved his British-led bid to buy Chelsea Football Club following the addition of another large international backer to his Blue Football Consortium.
Candy submitted a bid of over £2billion to The Raine Group last Friday but is now known to have increased this significantly after another large Korean financial institution joined his consortium over the weekend.
Proof of the additional funds has been sent to The Raine Group and is a huge boost to Candy’s bid, which is highly tipped to be one of the few preferred bids to make the shortlist.
Candy also revealed on Monday he has held initial discussions with tech platform PrimaryBid, with a view to potentially considering a community enfranchisement model for Chelsea as he doubles down on his commitment to involve fans in the future of the club. The PrimaryBid platform would enable all stakeholders of Chelsea – including employees and fans – to have access to buy a stake in the club.
Candy commented: “This remains a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give football back to the fans and put them at the heart of the operations and strategy of Chelsea Football Club. We are committed to preserving the incredible legacy of the club and to promoting community involvement, and we can provide the financial stability to ensure the future growth of the club on the world stage.”
A British-funded bid involving Chelsea season-ticket holders has revealed it is trying to buy the club.
London-based asset management firm Centricus have joined forces with hedge fund manager Jonathan Lourie of Cheyne Capital and Talis Capital’s Bob Finch to submit a bid.
Lourie, Finch and Centricus’ co-founder Nizar Al-Bassam and CEO Garth Ritchie are all season-ticket holders at Stamford Bridge. The group are hoping for a quick resolution to the situation to help Chelsea.
Al-Bassam told The Times: “There’s a clock ticking because the club is bleeding money at a faster rate than it should while there’s uncertainty there.”
Roman Abramovich put the London club up for sale on March 2, amid Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine. The Russian-Israeli billionaire was then sanctioned by the UK Government on March 10, with Downing Street claiming to have proven the 55-year-old’s direct links to Vladimir Putin.
American-backed bids from Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and Chicago Cubs owners the Ricketts family are among the front-runners to take over.
Sir Martin Broughton and Lord Sebastian Coe have also offered a bid.
“At the moment, what is happening in New York is The Raine Group, who are handling the sale of Chelsea – they were appointed by Roman Abramovich – they are meeting now to go through all these bids and then to produce a shortlist.
“The shortlist is probably going to be two or three preferred bidders. We’re expecting a decision to be made on that shortlist either this evening or early tomorrow.
“And then I think what’s going to happen is the government have to get involved as well because they’re overseeing this whole process. They need to be satisfied about where this money is coming from to buy Chelsea and where the money is going to because, of course, it can’t go to Roman Abramovich.
“I think the whole process is going to take weeks, it could take another two, three, four weeks for it to be completed so I don’t think it’s going to be done quickly, I think we’re looking at some time towards the end of April before the deal is completed.” – Sky Sports.
