DUBAI: The owners of the Chicago Cubs dropped their interest in buying Chelsea, leaving three remaining bids for the enforced sale of the Premier League club by sanctioned Russian owner Roman Abramovich.
The bid was being led by Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts but faced opposition from Chelsea fans over Islamophobic comments by his father, Joe, that featured in leaked emails three years ago.
The consortium, which also featured American investors Ken Griffin and Dan Gilbert, did not directly address the “issues” that prevented them pursuing the bid ahead of Thursday’s deadline for final submissions.
“The Ricketts-Griffin-Gilbert Group has decided, after careful consideration, not to submit a final bid for Chelsea FC,” the group said in a statement.
“In the process of finalizing 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.”
The remaining three known bids also involve North American sports team investors.
Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca has partnered with Larry Tanenbaum, who has ownership stakes in Toronto with the NBA’s Raptors, the NHL’s Maple Leafs and the city’s MLS team. Peter Guber, a part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is also backing in the group.
Another part-owner of the Dodgers, Todd Boehly, is leading another consortium.
The third remaining known group is fronted by former Liverpool and British Airways chairman Martin Broughton with planned investment by Josh Harris and David Blitzer, who own the Philadelphia 76ers and have stakes in Premier League club Crystal Palace.
A New York-based merchant bank, the Raine Group, has been overseeing the sale process that was announced last month by Abramovich following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The oligarch has been sanctioned by Britain and the European Union over his links to Russian President Vladimir Putin with assets frozen, including Chelsea.
Abramovich has been disqualified from running the reigning European champions by the Premier League and he cannot profit from the proceeds of the sale, which the British government must sign off under terms of a license that allows the team to continue operating.
Chelsea’s Champions League title defense were ended by Real Madrid on Tuesday but Thomas Tuchel’s team are on course to qualify for the lucrative UEFA competition next season as they are third in the Premier League. Chelsea remain in contention for the FA Cup with a semifinal match against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
3 known Chelsea bids left after Cubs owners drop buyout plan
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3 known Chelsea bids left after Cubs owners drop buyout plan
- The consortium did not directly address the “issues” that prevented them pursuing the bid ahead of Thursday's deadline for final submissions
- “The Ricketts-Griffin-Gilbert Group has decided, after careful consideration, not to submit a final bid for Chelsea FC,” the group said in a statement
Liverpool’s Slot says football must do more after Vinicius racism allegation
- The Dutchman said Jeremie Frimpong is still out this weekend but fellow defender Joe Gomez is ready to start if needed
Liverpool manager Arne Slot says more needs to be done to avoid racism in football following allegations by Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr that he was subjected to racist abuse from Benfica’s Argentine winger Gianluca Prestianni.
Real’s 1-0 Champions League playoff first-leg win at Benfica on Tuesday was overshadowed by Vinicius accusing Prestianni of directing a racist slur at him, a charge denied by the Portuguese club, the player and their manager Jose Mourinho.
European soccer’s governing body UEFA said it was reviewing the incident, which led to the game being halted for 11 minutes under FIFA’s anti-racism protocol.
“In general you can never do enough, you can always do more to make sure this (racism in football) never happens again,” Slot told reporters ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League visit to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
“We have to try as a football community to do more than society does. That’s maybe not so difficult, by the way. Protocol was followed in the game, that’s the first step,” he said on Thursday.
“I would hope my players would act in a similar way — immediately address it, and the referee acts in a similar way.”
Regarding the Forest game, Slot expects a different set-up under the Midlands club’s new manager Vitor Pereira compared to the meeting in November when Liverpool lost 3-0 at Anfield.
Former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Pereira was appointed last Sunday to replace the sacked Sean Dyche.
“We only have tonight (Thursday) to see if this new manager changes personnel,” Slot said, referring to Forest’s first game under Pereira at Fenerbahce in a Europa League playoff tie.
“The good thing is they have that game, and the manager was in the Premier League last season.”
The Dutchman said Jeremie Frimpong is still out this weekend but fellow defender Joe Gomez is ready to start if needed.
Slot said his side have improved over the past few months, with Liverpool sixth in the table on 42 points from 26 games.
“We have improved compared to three, four months ago. We are in a much better place than months ago,” the 47-year-old added.
“There are more reasons, but the most simple two are how fit we are and that we’re much better at set-pieces at the moment.”
Forest are languishing in 17th spot, one place and three points above West Ham United in the relegation zone.
