The Ricketts family have given an eight-point pledge to supporters as part of their takeover bid.
Chelsea supporters have strongly voiced their disapproval of the Ricketts family’s bid to buy the club and staged a protest outside Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The anger from Chelsea fans has been primarily directed towards Joe Ricketts, who is the father of the Chicago Cubs owners who are now trying to buy Chelsea, after he described Muslims as ‘my enemy’ in L***ed emails from 2019.
The Ricketts family are one of the final four bidders who are aiming to buy the club from Roman Abramovich, although Joe Ricketts has no role in the Chelsea takeover bid.
But the Ricketts family have now given a list of pledges to Chelsea supporters in an effort to ease concerns over their takeover proposal.
Included in their pledge is a promise that the club’s name, badge or home kit colour would not be changed during their reign.
The Ricketts family have also promised that the club would never sign up to a breakaway European Super League, which was proposed last year before several clubs withdrew following widespread backlash from fans.
RICKETTS FAMILY PLEDGE TO CHELSEA FANS
- Make no change to the club’s name, badge, and crest, or Chelsea blue, without the consent of supporters.
- Never participate in a European Super League and always protect the integrity and heritage of Chelsea F.C.
- Commit the resources necessary across all levels of the club to continue winning trophies, including investing in the first team, experienced football leadership and the Academy.
- Put inclusion and diversity at the heart of the club and fight against any form of discrimination or inequality.
- Create an Advisory Committee with diverse representation to ensure our decisions are informed by: a former men’s and women’s first team player, members of the CST and Chelsea Pitch Owners, and influential committee leaders.
- Explore every option to redevelop Stamford Bridge and do everything in our power to keep playing in this historic stadium.
- Match the current commitment to Chelsea F.C. Women and increase the number of women’s matches played at Stamford Bridge.
- Continue the vital charitable work of the Chelsea Foundation.
They have also pledged to ‘commit the resources necessary’ to continue investing in the team and have vowed to ‘match the current commitment’ to the Women’s side.
Meanwhile, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has urged the Ricketts family to end their takeover plans.
‘There have been movements and noise in the last week that the Ricketts’ bid seems to be the favoured one and get the preferential treatment as other parties have suggested,’ Neville told Sky Sports.
‘I have to say, we don’t know. There is no transparency, there is no independence in English football to be able to determine how you bid for a football club.
‘If I were the Ricketts family and got that type of hostility on the way in, move away. Move away, the fans are important.
‘We’ve seen unpopular owners like the Glazers at Manchester United or Mike Ashley at Newcastle United, it drains the absolute life of a football club and a city.
‘So we’ve got to make sure moving forward it’s not about the bids, it’s about what the fans want.’
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