Ricketts family’s bid to buy Chelsea dealt new blow after Supporters’ Trust express public concerns

The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust have delivered a blow to the Ricketts family’s bid to buy the European champions after expressing concerns over their ability to run an “inclusive, successful club.”

It is the first time the Trust has publicly questioned the owners of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, who have faced a backlash from fans on social media.

A ‘NoToRicketts’ hashtag has been used to gather numbers in opposition to the Americans. The campaign relates to historic racist emails sent by the family’s patriarch, Joe Ricketts.

He is not involved in the bid to buy Chelsea and was condemned by members of his own family for the comments.

The Ricketts’ were on Friday waiting to learn if they have been shortlisted in the race to buy out Roman Abramovich alongside the likes of Sir Martin Broughton and Todd Boehly’s consortium.

But their chances have not been helped by the opposition of supporters. That was compounded by a statement from the Trust, which met with the family this week.

It read: “It is essential that the new owners of the club has the confidence of the supporter base and demonstrate an understanding of the values that we stand for.

“That is why the strength of feeling towards the Ricketts family bid from Chelsea supporters cannot and must not be ignored.

“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.

The CST still has concerns about the ability of the Ricketts family to run an inclusive, successful club.

If they are unable to address these & gain confidence of supporters, we do not believe it would be in the best interests of our members for the bid to succeed.

Statement ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/VquNCMsI3a

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