Ownership Update: The Ricketts family-led consortium have now withdrawn their bid to purchase Chelsea
According to an official statement (h/t The Sun), The Ricketts have now opted out of the race to buy Chelsea. The Chicago Cubs owners had faced heavy backlash from the start due to the ‘Islamophobic’ comments made by Joe Ricketts via a leaked email sent in 2019.
That is not said to be the reason behind them withdrawing their bid. Nevertheless, it is fair to say the protest from the fans did not make their life easy.
It is understood that certain members of the groups were unable to agree on the final composition of the offer that was tabled. This latest development means that consortiums led by Steven Pagliuca, Todd Boehly, and Sir Martin Broughton are the only ones still remaining in the race.
The fans have been pretty vocal about their dissatisfaction regarding The Ricketts Family’s bid and this may be a sigh of relief for many in our fanbase. Whilst the modern game requires a certain level of financial might, the love and affection of the supporters are equally important for owners to have legitimacy.
According to an official statement, as quoted by The Sun, The Ricketts Family-led group has decided not to submit a final Bid for the Blues.
“The Ricketts-Griffin-Gilbert Group has decided, after careful consideration, not to submit a final bid for Chelsea FC. In the process of finalising their proposal, it became increasingly clear that certain issues could not be addressed given the unusual dynamics around the sales process. We have great admiration for Chelsea and its fans, and we wish the new owners well.”
A three-legged race
Another day passes and another interesting development takes place in our bid to find new owners. Here, the differences between members of the consortium were cited as the reason behind them pulling the plug on a potential deal.
The Stamford Bridge outfit caters to people of different religions and cultures, creating an inclusive environment to celebrate the beautiful game. The Ricketts and their past history would definitely not sit well with a large part of our supporters.
Hence this could be seen as a good turn of events for the Blues faithful. It is believed that our new owners could be finalised by the end of this month. This is great news for the West Londoners who have been going through a rough patch of uncertainty in the last couple of months.
The sanctions haven’t helped our cause too much while a disappointing exit from the UEFA Champions League means that we could use some good news at the moment. The Stamford Bridge outfit witnessed a great deal of success under Roman Abramovich but it is now time to open up a new chapter in the illustrious history of our club.
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It would thus be interesting to see who is handed the ownership of Chelsea. Under the stewardship of Abramovich, Chelsea won five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, two UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Europa League titles, two Community Shields, one UEFA Super Cup, and one FIFA Club World Cup.
That is certainly a huge tally for our new owners to live up to, but it sets a great precedent for anyone that wants to take ownership of our club.