Sports
Storm Gathers At Chelsea As Co-Owners Feud
Chairman Todd Boehly and majority owners Clearlake Capital are both prepared to take full control of the club.
Boehly has gradually lost power despite being named co-controlling owner after the club’s purchase from Roman Abramovich for £2.5billion in July 2022, with Clearlake, which owns a 61.5per cent stake, in primary control at Stamford Bridge.
Clearlake co-founder Behdad Eghbali has become the most hands-on figure within the ownership group since Boehly stepped down as interim sporting director in January 2023.
Multiple figures in the senior hierarchy now recognise there is a rift between two main blocs, Clearlake and the group allied to Boehly, including billionaire partners Hansjorg Wyss and Mark Walter, which owns the other 38.5% of the club.
Any rift has previously been denied by sources at the club.
Clearlake does not want to sell any of its stake in the club and is open to expanding it.
But Boehly also wants to buy out that stake and is keen to see the situation resolved quickly.
The two parties have matching rights and blocking options, should third parties come to the table.
The issue has been kept from most involved in the sporting side of the club, but some senior figures believe work on revamping or moving stadium has slowed due to the situation.
As part of a written agreement, the chairman will change every five years, which is due to see Boehly step down in 2027.
Clearlake would need to approve any sale of Boehly’s shares to a third party.
Since the 2022 takeover, Chelsea have spent over £1billion on new signings and were criticised for hoarding players during the summer transfer window, with 42 senior players on the books at one point, although that number was cut to 36.
Current manager Enzo Maresca was hired from Leicester in July to replace Mauricio Pochettino, who left Stamford Bridge after only one season in charge.
Pochettino, who departed by mutual consent, was the latest boss to leave under the new owners, who had previously sacked Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
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