MANCHESTER, Britain (Reuters) – British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, owner of OGC Nice, among others, is not interested in buying English football club Chelsea from the sale of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich , said a spokesperson for his Ineos group on Thursday.
Reports in the British press claiming that Jim Ratcliffe is considering a bid for Chelsea are baseless, the spokesman told Reuters.
“For the moment, he is concentrating on OGC Nice who have qualified for the final of the Coupe de France,” added this spokesperson. The match, which will pit Nice against FC Nantes, is scheduled for May 8 at the Stade de France.
Roman Abramovich announced on Wednesday that he had made the decision to sell the London Premier League club, which he bought nineteen years ago, and to use the proceeds from the sale to help victims of the war in Ukraine. .
Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of chemicals group Ineos, also owns the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team.
Swiss businessman Hansjoerg Wyss said on Wednesday that he was one of those approached by Roman Abramovich to buy the club.
“Abramovich is among (Vladimir) Putin’s closest advisers and friends. Like all other oligarchs, he is in a panic. Abramovich is currently trying to sell all his villas in England. He also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly. With three other people, I received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich,” he told the Swiss daily Blick.
(Report Simon Evans, written by Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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