As we reach the conclusion of Chelsea's takeover process, the three remaining bidders have been handed a late request to pay another £500m to purchase the west London club.
As reported by Sky News on Thursday, the three billionaire-led consortiums were informed in the last 48 hours that Roman Abramovich is demanding that the additional sum be guaranteed by his successors to augment what would be one of the biggest charitable donations in British history.
The report states that the demand had come directly from the Russian's associates, with one insider to the deal claiming that Abramovich was insisting that £1bn would be handed to charity after the imminent sale was completed.
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Following the UK Government's sanctioning of Abramovich in March, he stated that a £1.54million debt owed by the club's parent company, Fordstam, to Camberley International Investments - who are also associated with Abramovich - would be written off, with the funds instead used to help benefit the victims of the war in Ukraine.
But now a source close to one of the bidders says that it would be "impractical" to do so, with the sanctions meaning that Abramovich no longer has access to the funding required to repay the loan.
This development also opens up the possibility for use of debt in the imminent purchase to now take place, after there were early concerns from supporters over a repeat of the Glazers' takeover of Manchester United in 2005. Sky News claim that in exchange for the extra £500m, Raine is said to have informed bidders that some of the financing constraints - such as those relating to their use of debt - would be relaxed.
The three remaining consortiums led by Todd Boehly, Stephen Pagliuca and Sir. Martin Broughton are hoping to hear by the end of this week who Raine deems the preferred bidder, with all three having further conversations with the club's hierarchy earlier this week, according to The Telegraph.
In relation to funds going to charity, it is believed that Abramovich's associates have been consulting with international charities and UN associates over creating a new independent foundation, something the Department for Digitial, Culture, Media and Sport is understood to be aware of.
Whilst all three bidders were reportedly minded to agree to the £500m request, it remains unclear whether any of the three groups would have difficulty securing the sum at such short notice.
