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.
Sky Sports News understands 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.
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.
Candy increases takeover bid after Korea
boost
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."
'The race to own Chelsea is heating up'
Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
"We already know that on Friday they put in a bid that was worth more than
£2bn and they have now increased that bid, that is because they have managed
to get in more investment into their consortium over the weekend.
"We already knew they were backed by two South Korean companies, Hana
Financial Group and also C&P Sports Group, and over the weekend another
South Korean financial institution has joined their consortium.
"Now earlier [on Monday] The Times reported another consortium had made a
bid for Chelsea, this was a consortium headed by Centricus, who are an asset
management company, they manage about £29bn worth of assets, they are based
in the United Kingdom.
"They significantly have four bankers, hedge fund managers in the consortium
who are all Chelsea season-ticket holders as well.
"What we're really seeing today is the race is heating up to make it onto
the shortlist of the preferred bidders who will really have a chance of
buying Chelsea."
The latest with the sale of Chelsea:
Centricus and Ricketts family in the running
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."
Who has bid for Chelsea?
- Blue Football consortium (Nick Candy)
- Centricus
- Ricketts Family / Ken Griffin
- Boehly / Wyss / Goldstein consortium
- Sir Martin Broughton / Vivek Ranadive
- Aethel Partners
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.
What happens next?
More from Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol on Monday
afternoon:
"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."
'Ridiculous' to prevent Chelsea fans
attending FA Cup semi-final, says MP Julian Knight
Meanwhile, the FA is to work with the government to ensure Chelsea fans can
attend the FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace at Wembley in April.
A statement from the FA read: "We hope to have sell-out crowds at both of
our Emirates FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium.
"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."
Earlier, the government had been urged to allow Chelsea fans access to FA
Cup semi-final tickets, provided any proceeds go to the people of Ukraine.
Julian Knight, the chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee,
has called for changes to the special licence imposed upon the club after
Abramovich was sanctioned.
The intention of the licence is to deny the club - and by extension
Abramovich - the ability to generate new revenue, including from ticket
sales.
Chelsea fans were unable to buy any tickets for the FA Cup quarter-final win
at Middlesbrough beyond those purchased prior to the imposition of
sanctions, but Knight insists a solution must be in place ahead of the
semi-final against Palace.
"It is ridiculous that we face the prospect of a half-full Wembley for the
Chelsea vs Palace FA Cup semi-final," Knight said before the FA released its
statement.
"Chelsea is more than just its owner, it's a living organism with huge
importance to its fans and community. It was understandable that, at short
notice, last week's game against Middlesbrough went ahead without Chelsea
fans but, with this much notice, the FA have no excuse for excluding them.
"The FA must be allowed to sell tickets to Chelsea fans so long as all money
goes to the people of Ukraine."
Last Tuesday, Chelsea initially requested the match against Boro be played
behind closed doors "for matters of sporting integrity" because of the
inability to sell further tickets to travelling fans, but withdrew the
request later the same day.
The club are currently unable to sell any new tickets in home sections of
Stamford Bridge beyond those already sold, or sell tickets to visiting fans.
Unless the licence is changed, it means their Champions League quarter-final
first leg at home to Real Madrid would be played behind closed doors.
Discussions between the government, the Premier League and the Football
Association on ticketing are ongoing.
'Everyone wants Chelsea fans to be able to
buy tickets'
Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
"Not at the moment they can't.
"Behind the scenes there is a lot of work being done to make sure they will
be able to buy tickets as soon as possible.
"The FA want them to be able to buy tickets, Chelsea as a club want their
fans to watch them when they're playing.
"The Premier League and government are trying to sort something out.
"We spoke last Wednesday about one proposal to bring in a third party to
distribute the sale of tickets, that's something the government are looking
at. That's a possibility.
"As far as Chelsea fans are concerned, I think the good news is everybody
wants them to be able to buy tickets as soon as possible."
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