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Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has asked the three groups bidding to buy the club to stump up an extra £500 million which he wants to go to charity for victims of the war in Ukraine.
The bidders who remain in the running are a consortium led by Sir Martin Broughton, the former Liverpool chairman; a group spearheaded by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly; and a consortium being fronted by Steve Pagliuca, who co-owns the Boston Celtics, and Toronto Maple Leafs backer Larry Tanenbaum.
Read Also: Boehly Consortium Wins Race to Buy Chelsea Football Club
New York bank, The Raine Group, is overseeing the sale which is expected to go through within weeks.
After Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK Government last month, the Russian Oligarch will not be allowed to receive any money from Chelsea’s sale. He is aiming for a total of £2.5 billion to be donated to charity with an additional £1.5 billion invested in the club.
Chelsea are operating under a special licence from the UK government which ends on May 31 and British culture secretary Nadine Dorries says the club are now on “borrowed time” over the sale.
“There is a very short window left for that sale to take place,” Dorries said. “Chelsea is very much on borrowed time at the moment.”
Todd Boehly Consortium on Friday emerged as the preferred bidder to buy Chelsea Football Club, according to British media reports.
Abramovich put the Premier League club up for sale just before being sanctioned by the UK government after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The bidding process is close to a conclusion, with New York bank the Raine Group handling the sale for Abramovich reportedly picks Boehly Consortium as the front runners.
British businessman Jim Ratcliffe had made a dramatic late intervention in the bidding war with a £4.25 billion ($5.3 billion) offer earlier on Friday.