Ricketts family pull out of bid to buy Chelsea

The family had been one of the front runners in the bidding process

The controversial Ricketts family have confirmed they have pulled out of a bid to buy Chelsea. After several protests from supporters of the club, the Chicago Cubs owners released a statement on Friday in which they revealed they had withdrawn from the bidding process to replace the outgoing Roman Abramovich.

The Ricketts family statement

As per AP it said: "The Ricketts-Griffin-Gilbert group has decided, after careful consideration, not to submit a final bid for Chelsea FC. "In the process of finalising the proposal, it became increasingly clear that certain issues could not be addressed given the unusual dynamics around the sales process. "We have great admiration for Chelsea FC and its fans and we wish the new owners well." https://twitter.com/NickPurewal/status/1514921486125088771 Their bid to become owners of the club was widely unaccepted by fans of the European Champions who held in-person protests before Chelsea's 4-1 defeat to Brentford earlier in April. Chelsea fans' concerns come after the head of the family, Joe Ricketts, was forced to apologise after a leaked email, written in 2009, was discovered in 2019, in which he wrote "Muslims are my enemy." The email sparked a huge wave of opposition to the Ricketts' prospective bids and despite even unveiling an eight-point plan to try and win supporters over, were unable to as opposition grew even stronger.

There are now three remaining parties in the running

Following the family's withdrawal from the bidding process, it now means that there are three remaining parties in the running to become the west London side's new owners. Those include consortiums involving the likes if Nick Candy, Sir Martin Broughton and Lord Sebastian Coe, with a decision expected to be announced imminently. Related links:

• Thomas Tuchel reveals he has apologised to Conor Gallagher
• Ricketts family respond to Chelsea fans amid ownership protest
• Ricketts family, Blitzer and Harris, Pagliuca and Boehly shortlisted for Chelsea takeover