Members of the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust have made their discontent known at the prospect of the Ricketts family buying the club.
Four bidders are facing off to complete a takeover of the Blues, following Roman Abramovich’s decision to sell amid British government sanctions against the Russian oligarch and his businesses.
Among the contenders are the Ricketts, who co-own Major League Baseball team the Chicago Cubs. Their bid has been mired in controversy after the family’s father Joe Ricketts, who is not involved in the bid, described Muslims as his “enemy” in 2019.
Tom and Laura Ricketts, the siblings who run the bid and help manage the Cubs, have apologised for their father’s actions but continue to face a revolt from Chelsea fans on social media.
Ahead of a planned protest at Saturday’s game against Brentford, the CST balloted members on the bid - with only three per cent of fans backing their takeover.
“At present, it is clear that our membership neither supports nor has confidence in the Ricketts family's bid for the club,” read a CST statement.
“This is reflective of wider concerns articulated by large, vocal sections of Chelsea's supporter base.
“The CST Board is guided by our membership, and thus we do not currently believe it is in the best interests of our members for the Ricketts family's bid to succeed.
“We await further public detail from the Ricketts family on concrete steps they will take to address the well-documented concerns of Chelsea supporters.
“Should the Ricketts publicly set out clear and detailed plans on how they will address support concerns, we may survey our members again in the next week.”
Chelsea have set an April 11 deadline for offers to buy the club with it said that the Ricketts’ family are funding their bid entirely through cash, backed by hedge fund investor Ken Griffin.
Also bidding to buy the Premier League giants are LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and British business titan Jonathan Goldstein, Sir Martin Broughton and Lord Sebastian Coe, and Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca.
“Last week, the Chelsea Supporters' Trust stated that the Ricketts family must urgently and publicly address supporter concerns - especially with regard to inclusivity, given both past and recent statements by members of the family,” added the statement.
“We also committed to surveying our members as to their confidence and support in the Ricketts family's bid for Chelsea FC.
“Yesterday we conducted a snap survey of our membership. We asked our membership whether, based on information in the public domain as of April 1, they had confidence that the Ricketts family would run an inclusive and successful club, and we asked whether they supported the Ricketts family's bid.
“Our members have given a clear message in this regard: 72 per cent of those who responded do not currently have confidence that the Ricketts family would run an inclusive and successful club, with five per cent of respondents believing they would.
“Similarly, 77 per cent of members who responded do not support the Ricketts family's bid for Chelsea FC and three per cent of respondents are in support.
“It is essential that the new owners of Chelsea FC have the confidence of the supporter base and demonstrate an understanding of the values that we stand for.”
