Roman Abramovich wants as much as $4.4 billion for his beloved soccer team Chelsea.- The billionaire oligarch reportedly asked this week that all bidders up their offers by $627 million.
Billionaire Russian Roman Abramovich has upped the asking price for Chelsea FC by £500 million ($627 million) at the final stage of bidding, according to several reports in the UK media.
According to a Thursday report by The Athletic, Abramovich has asked the three remaining bidders for the current European and World club champions to provide the extra funding with the guarantee that it will be used to fund a foundation the oligarch wants to set up to help the victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The request for further cash commitments means that, per the Athletic, the total cost to buy Chelsea will be around £3.5 billion ($4.4 billion), with roughly £2.5 billion ($3.14 billion) of that money committed to the new Ukraine foundation, and the other £1 billion ($1.26 billion) to be spent on investing directly in Chelsea.
Extra funds were requested, Sky News reports, in meetings this week between the consortiums bidding for Chelsea and close associates of Abramovich.
Three groups remain in contention to buy Chelsea. The first, led by British businessman Sir Martin Broughton, includes funding from both Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams.
The others are from a group led by Todd Boehly, the co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, and from Stephen Pagliuca, who part-owns both the NBA's Boston Celtics and Italian soccer team Atalanta.
The Athletic reports that all three groups were frustrated by the fresh cash demands but not so frustrated that they are looking to pull out of their bids.
Abramovich is closely linked to President Vladimir Putin but has sought to distance himself from the war, even attempting to act as a broker in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
He put Chelsea up for sale shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, saying that his continued involvement in the club was an unnecessary distraction. Days later, he was sanctioned by the UK government, putting the sale in doubt.
The government, however, granted a special license to allow the sale process to begin, with the American bank Raine Group spearheading its execution. The license was given on the condition that the UK government approves the new owner.
Chelsea is living on 'borrowed time,' minister says.
While the UK government is allowing a sale to go ahead, it is becoming increasingly frustrated with how long it is taking to find a buyer.
On Thursday, Nadine Dorries, the UK's culture secretary, told the BBC that the club is living on "borrowed time" as a sale moves slowly closer.
"Chelsea's being sold, as you know, and the sanctions apply, so those sanctions still apply during the sale," she said on the BBC's Newscast podcast.
"There is a very short window left for that sale to take place. It has to happen soon," she continued, adding that the window is "weeks," when pushed by presenter Chris Mason.
"All I would say is that Chelsea is very much on borrowed time right now," Dorries concluded.