The whole situation regarding the buyout of Chelsea FC died down a bit which does not mean that the process is not ongoing. We wrote about a month ago that the second stage of the sale is underway and that the current establishment of the club and the British government are assessing the bidders that are left over after the first round of eliminations.Chelsea, the current Champions League holders, have been up for sale since March – shortly before Russian owner Roman Abramovich was hit by sanctions from the government due to his ties to Russia president Vladimir Putin.Raine Group, the bank who are overseeing the Chelsea sale, could pitch their preferred bidder to the government as soon as this week.One of those who are still ‘in play’ is Sir Martin Broughton, the former chairman of British Airways and Liverpool FC and his bid just got much more interesting. According to Sky News, the seven-time Formula One champion Sir Lewis Hamilton and the 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams are ready to pledge 13 million USD each in a joint deal with Broughton. The 75-year-old has apparently been in talks with the duo for weeks.Sun 16:00: (1.58) Chelsea (4.10) West Ham (6.75)Chelsea FC is expected to be sold for around 3.2 billion USD and the sports stars are prepared to invest in buying the Stamford Bridge club. But the whole thing with Hamilton participating brings more than meets the eye.First – if the deal is in fact reached, the F1 driver would be taking up a formal ‘anti-discrimination’ role at the club. A spokesperson for Hamilton said: ‘We can confirm that Lewis has joined the Sir Martin Broughton bid, however the financial figure reported in the Sky article isn’t accurate.’Sky News also claim that Hamilton would ‘play a formal role in Chelsea’s future efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion’ if Broughton’s bid ends up being successful.And second – which could rub the Blues’ fans the wrong way – Hamilton has been an Arsenal fan since childhood. The 37-year-old has previously spoken of how he supports Chelsea’s London rivals and has been a fan since he was five years old. Chelsea and Arsenal played each other in the Premier League on Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge, with Arsenal winning 4-2.Tuchel blames the pitch and his players for a loss to ArsenalThe 40-year-old Serena Williams is a part-owner of Los Angeles-based women’s team Angel City who will play their first match this year. ‘I think that’s really cool for athletes to own something. It’s interesting because you have a different type of pride when you’re there and you’re playing for something that you own,’ Williams said.Broughton, who is spearheading the bid for the Chelsea FC buyout, is a lifelong supporter of the London club and has a wide range of investors to raise funds.Other contenders for taking ownership of Chelsea are Steve Pagliuca (the owner of NBA team Boston Celtics, who also owns a stake in Italian Serie A team Atalanta) and Todd Boehly, the LA Dodgers part-owner.
