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.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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