The Ricketts family’s bid for Chelsea Football Club was first reported on March 6 with the No To Ricketts campaign gaining steam now
The bid was confirmed ten days later, on the 16th. However, the news is being met with severe opposition from Chelsea fans around the world.
We take a look at the details of Ricketts bid and Chelsea fan’s reason of opposition.
Leading Candidates to Buy Chelsea: The Ricketts Family
For a variety of reasons, the Ricketts are front-runners to take over Chelsea. First and foremost, they have the financial means to run a football team successfully. The Ricketts family initially expressed interest in purchasing the Blues, which raised some questions given the team’s Forbes valuation of $5.92 billion (£3.92 billion). They’ve partnered up with Citadel LLC CEO Ken Griffin, who is reputedly worth $28.5 billion (£21.49 billion), in recent weeks, and their financial strength has only grown stronger.
Ricketts are one of the safe bets due to their ownership of the Chicago Cubs, one of the most well-known sports franchises in the United States. Among serious candidates, experience in sports ownership is viewed as a critical attribute.
Why Are Chelsea Fans Trending No To Ricketts As The Family Bids For Chelsea
We won’t stop till they pull out of the race!#NoToRicketts pic.twitter.com/1i7dKF7WZ9
— Jack (@JRT0809) March 23, 2022
Why are this Ricketts family still not pulling out of the race to buy Chelsea football club, cos the whole Chelsea fans around the world don’t wanna see them manage affairs at the club…#cfc #NoToRicketts pic.twitter.com/Pw4qVrentE
— KiNg kAnTe (@Ngolo21) March 23, 2022
The #NoToRicketts hashtag trended all day Tuesday, with over 100,000 tweets. The tweets were mostly centered on the Ricketts family patriarch, Joe Ricketts, sending anti-Muslim emails a few years ago. The tweets also expressed concerns over their general political affiliations, not to mention their mismanagement of the Chicago Cubs. During their tenure, the Ricketts dismantled a World Series-winning team while also mining the local community and infrastructure for profits.
The rest of the Ricketts family has tried to separate themselves from the email incident, publicly denouncing their father’s racist views, which he claims is unrelated to this bid. Regardless of the truth of the issue or their true viewpoints, that’s obviously a difficult sell.
There’s no need to look far to recognize the Blues’ Islamic influence; N’Golo Kante, Antonio Rudiger, Malang Sarr, and Hakim Ziyech are just a few of the team’s Muslim followers. Chelsea’s global presence, it goes without saying, ties the club with millions of Muslim followers around the world. With slightly under 3 million documented followers as of December 2020, Islam is the UK’s second largest religion. Hence, the fans of Chelsea club aren’t open to the idea of handing the club’s responsibility to a person with racist mentality.
Also Read: Indian Wells Masters Tennis 2022 Winners List, Final Score, Results, Prize Money Pool
Recommended: The Sports Fan App