Driver Lewis Hamilton and tennis player Serena Williams are involved in negotiations to invest in the purchase of English football giant Chelsea. And this information was published, Thursday, by the British “Sky Sports” station. The news is that the two sports stars are ready to invest 20 million pounds (about 121.1 million Brazilian riyals) in the project presented by businessman Martin Broughton to buy the London club.
British Airways chief and ex-Liverpool boss, Bruton is one of four candidates for Chelsea’s new owner, who has been put up for sale by oligarch Roman Abramovich, targeted by British sanctions over his relationship with Vladimir Putin amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to “Sky”, Hamilton and Williams spoke weeks ago with Proton about the possibility of investing 10 million pounds each in the consortium led by the British businessman. The group already has other strong investors, such as Sebastian Coe, president of the IAAF and Olympic champion.
Hamilton’s representatives confirmed to Reuters news agency that the Mercedes driver had agreed to participate in the consortium, but the numbers revealed were not accurate, without giving further details. Serena Williams, in turn, has not issued any official position on this matter. The tennis player, the 23rd Grand Slams champion, is already part of the business world, as she is an investor in the Angel City FC women’s soccer team.
The proposal penned by Broughton is gaining traction with the presence of sports stars, but the competition for possession of Chelsea is strong. The Ricketts family, which owns the Chicago Cubs, one of the largest baseball franchises in the United States, is one of the candidates. Also in attendance are Todd Boyle, co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Steve Pagliuca, a shareholder of the Boston Celtics and Atlanta.
