Football: Chelsea bidders wait on sale process with new offer reported

[LONDON] Potential buyers for Chelsea Football Club remain in limbo days after making their bids, as the New York-based bank handling the sale sifts through multiple offers for one of the biggest names in sports.

The Raine Group set a deadline of last Friday (Mar 18) for bids to be submitted and has spent the days since deciding on which would make the final cut. One group led by Centricus Asset Management offered more than £3 billion (S$5.4 billion) for Roman Abramovich's club, Bloomberg News reported Monday.

Another potential buyer, Los Angeles-born Saudi investor and Zedan Group Chairman Amr Zedan, was reported Tuesday by the Associated Press. The many would-be owners of the club - numbering as many as 20, according to The Athletic - also include consortiums led by Todd Boehly, Woody Johnson, the Ricketts family, Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris, and UK property investor Nick Candy.

The Ricketts group, with support from Ken Griffin, decided to plow on with its campaigning despite the uncertainty, fixing up plans to meet Chelsea fan groups in London after some criticism on social media.

A representative for Raine Group didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Russian billionaire Abramovich has owned Chelsea for almost 20 years. He put the club up for sale after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the UK government to place him under far-reaching sanctions for his ties to President Vladimir Putin's regime. BLOOMBERG