Ricketts family cancels their offer to purchase Chelsea from Roman Abramovich

The Ricketts family has withdrawn their offer to buy Chelsea Football Club from Roman Abramovich.

After a deadline from sellers Raine Group passed yesterday, the bidders, officially known as the Ricketts-Griffin-Gilbert Group, were one of the final four left in the process, but released a statement on Friday announcing their withdrawal.

‘After careful thought, the Ricketts-Griffin-Gilbert consortium has chosen not to submit a final proposal for Chelsea FC,’ the statement added. ‘We have great admiration for Chelsea and its fans, and we wish the new owners well.’

As the proposal was being finalized, it became evident that certain issues could not be resolved due to the odd dynamics surrounding the sales process.

Due to racist allegations against Ricketts family members and financial ties to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the proposal was engulfed in controversy and met with intense criticism from supporting groups.

Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly, former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton, and Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca are believed to have made the final three offers in the running.

Since current owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, the Premier League club has been up for sale, with the oligarch’s strong ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin under review.

Chelsea is in a dangerous financial position as Abramovich’s UK assets have been frozen, preventing them from carrying out day-to-day transactions such as selling match tickets or operating retail stores while he retains ownership of the club.

Sponsorship agreements with the club have been halted by companies such as Three and Hyundai, and with football teams functioning on limited liquidity business models, the necessity to sell quickly is evident.

Chelsea lost the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool in February and was knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Real Madrid earlier this week.

Thomas Tuchel’s side are not in contention for the Premier League title, but they did win the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time in January, and they will face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley on Sunday.