Formula One star Sir Lewis Hamilton is being joined by tennis ace Serena Williams in a bid to buy Chelsea Football Club, according to Sky News. The two international sportspeople are said to be joining the takeover bid by Sir Martin Broughton, one of three remaining bids for the Blues.
The seven-time racing champion and the former number one women's tennis player are said to have pledged £10million each to the bid headed by Broughton. Both Hamilton and Williams have been known to dabble in investment, having done so in the past few years.
Former Liverpool chairman Broughton is joined by Steve Pagliuca and Todd Boehly in the bidding race, with the fourth party, the Ricketts Family, dropping out as they didn't put a final bid in by the deadline of late last week. The sale of Chelsea comes after owner Roman Abramovich decided to sell the club following sanctions placed on him by the UK Government.
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The sanctions were part of a reaction following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. With Abramovich's assets frozen, the Blues were placed under a special sporting licence, meaning they couldn't sell tickets or merchandise, as well as number of other restrictions such as a cap on travel costs.
Raine Bank were then left in charge of overseeing the bids, while the Russian owner is believed to have the final say over the choice. A number of bid deadlines have come and gone and with three bids left, the American bank is set to name a preferred bidder in due course.
Hamilton and Williams join a number of high profile names included in the bidding process, however the former's inclusion may come as a surprise due to his support for Arsenal from a young age. Also included in the Broughton bid is Lord Sebastian Coe, the President of World Athletics, along with a number of other investors from a diverse background of investment.
The sporting duo have been champions of promoting equality in and outside of their respective sports, something that had become a central focus of the Chelsea takeover process after the Ricketts' family bid had to distance themselves from historical Islamophobic claims. They have seen withdrawn from the bid, with only Pagliuca and Boehly left alongside Broughton.
