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Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton has joined one of the bidders for top English football team Chelsea.
The London-based team was put up for sale by its long-time Russian oligarch owner Roman Abramovich back in early March, before subsequently being seized by the UK government as part of its sanctions against Abramovich.
Amid a cavalcade of interest from various sports team owners and business entities, a list of four approved bidders was drawn up at the end of March, although this has now become a three-horse race following the withdrawal of the group fronted by the Ricketts family – the owners of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs.
The three entities still competing to secure the club are: a consortium led by the owner of MLB club Los Angeles Dodgers Todd Boehly; a bid headlined by Stephen Pagliuca, co-owner of legendary USA basketball outfit Boston Celtics and Italian football club Atalanta; and a consortium led by British businessman Martin Broughton.
It is the last of those three bids that Hamilton has reportedly joined forces with, according to Sky News and Reuters and also confirmed to the Press Association by a spokesperson for Hamilton.
It’s currently unclear which group leads the race to acquire Chelsea or what the timeframe for a decision on the sale is.
Chelsea is the reigning champion of the ultra-prestigious European club football competition Champions League, and sits third in the standings in England’s top football division Premier League.
Mercedes driver Hamilton is known to be a boyhood fan of Arsenal, a major local rival of Chelsea’s that coincidentally inflicted a 4-2 defeat on the Blues this Wednesday.
However, it is unlikely to be a major obstacle given other people involved in various bids have ties to Chelsea’s various rivals – with the Boehly consortium featuring a reported Tottenham fan in British entrepreneur Jonathan Goldstein, while Broughton himself is a former Liverpool chairman.
It has also been reported that tennis legend Serena Williams has joined the Broughton bid, and that both her and Hamilton have committed £10million each should Broughton’s takeover succeed.
Sky has also reported that a source’s suggestion that Hamilton would “play a formal role in Chelsea’s future efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion if the bid is successful”.
Hamilton’s current Mercedes deal runs to the end of 2023, and it is unclear whether the Briton – being 37 – will seek to continue in F1 beyond that date.
