Governing Bodies
Factbox: List of confirmed bidders to buy Chelsea
Following is a list of confirmed bidders that have announced they will seek to buy English soccer club Chelsea after Russian team owner Roman Abramovich was hit by UK government sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
NICK CANDY, HANA FINANCIAL INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED AND C&P SPORTS LIMITED
South Korea companies Hana Financial Investment Company Limited and C&P Sports Limited have joined forces with British Property developer Nick Candy to make a bid for Chelsea.
Candy, a lifelong Chelsea fan, has also been joined by former Blues player and manager Gianluca Vialli as he prepares his bid.
Sky News reported that a central part of Candy’s pitch to buy Chelsea was the proposal to offer a seat on the board to fans and he was in talks with financiers about them joining his bid ahead of a deadline for offers at the end of the week.
He will also offer short-term funding if Chelsea face a cash crunch, the report added.
Hana Financial Group is the title sponsor of the Korean Football League and the national soccer team.
C&P Sports has worked on commercial deals with several big clubs in the last 10 years, such as Kumhos Tyres with Tottenham Hotspur, Nexen Tyre with Manchester City and Hyundai Motors with Atletico Madrid.
AETHEL PARTNERS
London-based financial firm Aethel Partners said they have put in a bid of over two billion pounds for Chelsea, adding that they will provide the club with an immediate sum of 50 million pounds to deal with any short-term financial issues.
Aethel Partners was established in 2014. It was founded by Ricardo Santos Silva, former deputy president of hedge fund Lyxor Asset Management, and Aba Rosa Schubert, who was previously a partner at Eton Park Capital Management, a hedge fund.
MARTIN BROUGHTON AND SEBASTIAN COE
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has joined a consortium including former Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton that hopes to buy Chelsea.
“I am certain Sir Martin is the right man to lead Chelsea Football Club into its next chapter,” Coe said in a statement to British media. read more
Broughton is the deputy chairman of International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways and Iberia.
THE RICKETTS FAMILY AND KEN GRIFFIN
The owners of U.S. baseball team the Chicago Cubs, the Ricketts family, have teamed up with Citadel founder Ken Griffin to work on a bid to buy Chelsea, a spokesperson for Griffin said. read more
The Ricketts family expressed interest in acquiring a controlling stake in Italian club AC Milan in 2018.
They have formed an investment group which is set to make a formal offer for the London club on Friday.
Reuters has been told the bid does not involve Citadel, the hedge fund business, only Griffin.
HANSJOERG WYSS AND TODD BOEHLY
Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss, who had expressed interest in purchasing Chelsea along with LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly, told Swiss newspaper Blick that he remained interested in a deal. read more
Wyss, 86, made a large share of his fortune by selling med-tech company Synthes Holding AG to Johnson & Johnson in 2012 for nearly $20 billion.
Boehly previously considered making a takeover offer for Tottenham Hotspur in 2014 through Cain Hoy Enterprises, a U.S. private investment company, of which he is one of the founders.
Conservative peer Daniel Finkelstein said he was also a part of the bid.
“I’m passionate about Chelsea to the point of eccentricity,” Finkelstein wrote on Twitter. “I want owners who will invest but are also insightful and use modern methods to keep our club on top of the world.”
($1 = 0.7593 pounds)
-Reuters
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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