Serena Williams and Lewis Hamilton join consortium to buy Chelsea

By Amanda Davies, CNN

Updated 1418 GMT (2218 HKT) April 21, 2022

Serena Williams and Lewis Hamilton have joined former Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton's bid to buy Chelsea.

(CNN)Twenty-three-time grand slam championSerena Williams and seven-time Formula One world championLewis Hamilton have joined Martin Broughton's bid to buy Premier League club Chelsea, a source close to the bid told CNN Sport on Thursday.

The source was speaking on the condition of anonymity, and while they would not confirm how much either was investing as part of the consortium, they stated that both were investing as sport business investors.Broughton's consortium includes World Athletics President Sebastian Coe as well as Josh Harris and David Blitzer, who own sport teams including the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Philadelphia 76ers, the source added.A second source also confirmed Coe's involvement with Broughton's bid. Broughton is the former Liverpool chairman.Chelsea allowed to sell tickets again as UK government revises its special licenseFreud Communications — Hamilton's communications consultancy — confirmed the Formula One driver's involvement in Broughton's bid to CNN.Read MoreSerena Williams' representatives were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNN.Williams is already part of a majority woman-founded group who owns Angel City FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).Broughton's bid is one of three left in the race to purchase the club from current Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.In March,Abramovich announced he planned to sell the club in the best interests of «the fans, the employees, as well as the Club's sponsors and partners.»This came after he declared he gave «stewardship» of Chelsea to