As per The Athletic’s Matt Slater, the Chelsea sale is expected to be the biggest-ever involving a sports organization in history. Bids were submitted with the Raine Group – the New York-based bank responsible for the process – on Friday, March 18, with the shortlist set to be announced shortly.
While reports previously claimed that the offers were in the region of 2-3 billion pounds, the last one suggests that the final price could end up as high as 4 billion, masking the sum that Joseph Tsai paid for the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 – the previous record.
One group interested in buying the club is the USA-based Ricketts family. Owner of the Major League Baseball franchise Chicago Cubs, the Ricketts formalized their interest and secured funding ahead of the Friday deadline and were said to be one of the frontrunners to be shortlisted for further talks. Since then, however, the family has come under immense backlash from the Chelsea fanbase for previous distasteful comments.
Ex-Chelsea player Paul Canoville has participated in a vocal uprising against the Ricketts through social media, sending out a tweet against their proposed bid to buy the club on March 22.
“So I’ve seen and heard enough. I’m backing [ChelseaSTrust] and saying a big fat anti-racism NO to the Ricketts bid!”
wrote Canoville on Twitter.
The Ricketts family released the following statement to counter the backlash from the Chelsea fans:
“Our family rejects any form of hate in the strongest possible terms. Racism and Islamophobia have no place whatsoever in our society. We have developed deep and abiding partnerships with the Muslim community in Chicago, as well as with all communities of colour.
Respect for diversity and inclusion are central to our family’s values. If we prevail in our bid for Chelsea, we commit to the club and to the fans that we will actively promote these values.”
Despite that, the hashtag “NoToRicketts” was seen trending on Twitter.
