The leading Chelsea fans group, the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust [CST], has expressed concern about the ability of the Ricketts family to run an “inclusive” and “successful” club after meeting the group for talks this week about their potential ownership.
The Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise, are expected to make the shortlist of three preferred offers being drawn up by the Raine Group after the club was put up for sale following the sanctioning of Roman Abramovich by the UK government.
The bid is being led by Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts but has been met with criticism from Chelsea fans following past comments from his father, Joe, who came under criticism in 2012 for calling Muslims “the enemy” in a leaked email.
It led to Chelsea supporters starting a “No To Ricketts” campaign on social media, prompting the family to fly to the UK and meet with the CST this week in an attempt to reassure fans and allay concerns about its bid.
However, the CST says that those concerns have yet to be addressed following the meeting and has urged for the bid to be dismissed unless the Ricketts family can “publicly and urgently demonstrate” how they will do so.
Tom Ricketts responded with a statement on behalf of the family in which he said “it is now up to us to redouble our efforts and clearly lay out a vision for our stewardship of the club with diversity and inclusion at its heart.”
An earlier statement from the CST read: “It is essential that the new owners of the club has [sic] the confidence of the supporter base and demonstrate an understanding of the values that we stand for. That is why the strength of feeling towards the Ricketts family bid from Chelsea supporters cannot and must not be ignored.
“The CST are grateful to the Ricketts family for meeting with us this week. We challenged them on all of the points supporters have raised concerns about. However, our concerns about their ability to run an inclusive, successful club on behalf of our diverse supporter base around the world have not yet been allayed.
“It is for the Ricketts family to demonstrate how they will address supporter concerns – especially with regard to inclusivity, given both past and recent statements by members of the family, and they have not yet done that.
“They must do so publicly and they must do so urgently. If they are unable to do this and gain the confidence of Chelsea supporters, the CST Board does not believe it would be in the best interests of our members and Chelsea supporters for their bid to succeed. We will also survey our members in the coming week on this point.”
The Cubs-owning Ricketts family boast the financial muscle of US hedge fund supremo Ken Griffin, believing their experience of renovating storied stadium Wrigley Field offers an edge in their candidacy given Stamford Bridge’s required rebuild.
There have been further controversies after it emerged that Joe Ricketts donated at least $1m to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 while son Pete has served as governor of Nebraska since 2014 and has faced criticism for his support of the death penalty, backing of Trump during his impeachment trial, and climate change scepticism.
The Ricketts family bid was also criticised by the Chelsea Chicago Supporters Club, which said it was in a “unique position” to judge the bid and called for it to be rejected.
“My family and I are very grateful to all the fans and supporters’ groups who took time to meet with us this week and share their passion and concerns for Chelsea Football Club,” Tom Ricketts said. “It’s clear you have nothing but the best interests of the club at heart.
“We have listened to all of your feedback – including from the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust – and are grateful that the door is still open for us to demonstrate our commitment to working with fans to protect the club’s heritage.
“It is now up to us to redouble our efforts and clearly lay out a vision for our stewardship of the club with diversity and inclusion at its heart.”
