"No substance" to reports of billionaire Ratcliffe interest in Chelsea - spokesman

MANCHESTER : British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, linked with a possible purchase of Chelsea Football Club, is not interested in buying the team from Russian owner Roman Abramovich, a spokesman for his company INEOS told Reuters.

British media reports had said that Ratcliffe was considering a bid for Chelsea but the spokesman told Reuters: "There is no substance to the stories."

Abramovich said on Wednesday he would sell Chelsea Football Club, 19 years after buying the Premier League team, amid calls in Britain for sanctions against him following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ratcliffe, chairman of chemical company INEOS, currently owns French club OGC Nice and the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team, has been linked with Chelsea in the past.

"Right now his focus is on OGC Nice which made it to the final of the French Cup to be played in Paris at the beginning of May," said the spokesperson.

On Wednesday, Swiss business tycoon Hansjoerg Wyss said he was one of three people who had been approached by Abramovich to buy the club.

"Abramovich is currently trying to sell all his villas in England. He also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly now. I, along with three other people, received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich," Wyss told Swiss newspaper Blick.

(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Alison Williams and Pritha Sarkar)