Chelsea fans insist they have concerns over the Ricketts family - even after meeting the potential buyers.
The Ricketts family, owner of the Chicago Cubs, are understood to have made the final shortlist of preferred buyers but must now win over the fans.
However, they are facing a major obstacle because of previous comments made by Joe Ricketts in 2012 saying Muslims were "naturally my enemy." Representatives of the family - who have also teamed up with US tycoon Ken Griffin - flew into London to meet fans from the Chelsea Supporters Trust.
The CST put out a statement which said: “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.”
Tom Ricketts replied to the CST concerns and said: “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. It’s clear you have nothing but the best interests of the club at heart.
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“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.”
US brokers Raine have put US tycoon Todd Boehly’s consortium on their shortlist of preferred bidders along with Sir Martin Broughton whose group is also supported by Seb Coe.
Boehly appears to be the early favourite with others waiting on confirmation but, despite the concerns over their bid, the Ricketts family are still hoping to make the next stage.
