Tom Ricketts has reaffirmed his family's commitment to 'diversity and inclusion' at Chelsea should their takeover be successful amid a public protest at Stamford Bridge. Supporters demonstrated on Saturday afternoon ahead of the Blues' Premier League clash with Brentford.
Having clearly seen the protests, Tom Ricketts released a statement in response. He wrote: “Over the past fortnight, our bid team has met with several supporter groups to explain our vision for Chelsea Football Club. In those meetings, and by letter to all groups, we have shared a set of specific commitments we will make to fans, if our bid is successful.
“We believe these are far-reaching and certainly include an absolute commitment on part of the Ricketts Family and the bid team to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of the club.
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“We look forward to more meetings - including with the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust - over the coming days and to making a public reiteration of our values and commitments.”
The opposition to Ricketts comes after their bid for the club progressed to the next stage of negotiations - the family have been confirmed as preferred bidders. However, fans have taken exception to that, with the Chelsea Supporters' Trust indicating that there is almost little to no support among the fanbase having produced a survey.
In a statement released on Saturday morning, they said: "72% currently do not have confidence that the Ricketts family would run an inclusive and successful club. 77% do not support the Ricketts family’s bid. The CST does not currently believe it is in the best interests of our members for the Ricketts bid to succeed."
There are of course further parties involved in the takeover process, with consortiums led by Todd Boehly and Sir Martin Broughton competing for control of the club. Meanwhile, Stephen Pagliuca also saw his bid for the Blues progress.
