In other news... looks like this bidding process is getting messy with some now saying it may not be announced until the end of April and bidders have been asked not to go public with comments.. some are saying that the Ricketts have had an unfair advantage over other bidders and look like they may be the frontrunners...
The bidding process to buy Chelsea football club could descend into farce with rival groups furious with what they perceive to be preferential treatment towards the Ricketts family’s bid, according to reports.
After being sanctioned by the UK government over his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Roman Abramovich enlisted US merchant bank Raine Group to oversee the sale of the west London club he has owned since 2003.
Raine received a host of offers but whittled it down to a four-strong shortlist which features controversial prospective owners the Ricketts family, as well as consortiums led by Todd Boehly, Sir Martin Broughton and Stephen Pagliuca.
It had briefly appeared as though the Ricketts bid would not make the final cut, having received a backlash from supporters when anti-Muslim comments from the family’s patriarch, Joe, resurfaced.
But not only did the Ricketts family’s bid get through to the next stage of the selection process, The Times claims rival bidding groups fear the owners of the Chicago Cubs are now the preferred choice of Raine to buy Chelsea.
One of the shortlisted consortiums even feel rules of the bidding process might have been ‘breached’ after Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck set up a meeting between Tom Ricketts and Paul Canoville.
They are also getting the growing feeling that the Ricketts are the preferred choice of buyer and are increasingly ‘nervous’ about their chances of winning the race to buy Chelsea due to the pre-existing, strong business relationship that already exists between the family and Raine Group.