The two sports stars want to invest in the football club.
(Photo: imago images/Motorsport Images)
Dusseldorf Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams want to participate in a takeover of the English football club Chelsea FC. The top athlete and the racing driver are involved as investors in a corresponding consortium.
The room says they want to bring in £10m, Sky Sports reported. The consortium is led by British multi-millionaire Sir Martin Broughton. He was briefly chairman of Liverpool FC in 2010.
The reigning Champions League winner Chelsea has so far belonged to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, he initially relinquished management of the London club and then had British banks look for buyers. On the one hand to protect his own assets from the threat of sanctions by the government in London against supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand to limit the impact on the FC itself.
Abramovich had announced that the proceeds from the sale would be donated to the victims of the Ukraine war. In the meantime, however, his assets in Great Britain have been frozen by the expected sanctions, and the sales process has been interrupted.
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Broughton’s consortium, which includes former Olympic track and field champion Sebastian Coe, is one of three remaining bidders for the football club. This should change hands for an estimated 2.5 billion pounds (around 3 billion euros).
>> Read also: Great Britain puts Roman Abramovich on sanctions list – FC-Chelsea sale stopped
On Friday Lewis Hamilton explained his involvement in the possible takeover with his former passion for football. The Brit emphasized that he has been a football fan since childhood: “When I heard about it, I thought: Wow, this is one of the greatest opportunities to be part of something big.”
He did not name any numbers, but emphasized: “Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world.” Official confirmation by Serena Williams is still pending. However, the most successful tennis player of the past 50 years is an active investor herself and has set up a corresponding fund, among other things.
While private investors’ investments in football clubs are comparatively heavily regulated in Germany, this approach is common in the English Premier League. Entry by British celebrities as well as US investors has now become a tradition there. The ownership structure is very international, with a focus on the USA and China.
Bank selects favorites among three prospects
However, a takeover will be complicated. Chelsea can only continue playing with a special license. In fact, the club is currently managed by the state. It must also be clarified which liabilities are also assumed. The stadium at Stamford Bridge is considered to be in need of rehabilitation. The oligarch has apparently written off debts of around 1.5 billion euros that the club has with Abramovich.
Also, Broughton, Williams and Hamilton aren’t the only ones interested. The Ricketts family, owners of the US baseball team Chicago Cubs, are also bidding for Chelsea FC. And the co-owner of the NBA club Boston Celtics, US investor Stephen Pagliuca, also announced a bid.
A total of three consortia are to be shortlisted. According to media reports, the US bank Raine Group, which was commissioned with the sale, could select a favorite this week. According to media reports, British billionaire Nick Candy, who is favored by Chelsea fans, is not on the shortlist.
The German coach, who won the Champions League with Chelsea last year, is currently not economically competitive with the club.
(Photo: AP)
In addition to the British government, the Premier League must also agree to the deal. Both the operators of the football league and the government will probably not get involved. It is also questionable where the sales proceeds for the football club will go – the only thing that is certain is that Abramovich should be prevented from receiving the money in whatever form.
The football club is under enormous pressure, because it is not known how long Chelsea will have liquid funds given the frozen funds. In addition, the editions are severely limited by the strict conditions of the special license. In the event of “significant delays in salary payments”, the players could consider terminating the contract, said Ulf Baranowsky, managing director of the German players’ union at the end of March.
With agency material
More: Chelsea are facing the most expensive takeover in sporting history – and the most complicated