Chelsea boss backs fan protests over Ricketts' ownership

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The opposition towards the Ricketts family and their bid to take over Chelsea continued ahead of the team's match against Brentford.

A number of supporters stood outside Stamford Bridge protesting the bid from the Chicago Cubs owners.

According to the Daily Mail, more than 20,000 people signed a petition against a potential Ricketts ownership. 

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was asked about the protests and showed his support for the fans to have their voices heard.

“You have to face the consequences if you are responsible for these kind of quotes,”  said Tuchel. “If one of the consequences is that the fans protest you have to deal with it.

“I hope the fans remember we have a team challenging in three competitions in a crucial moment of the season and don’t distract them in their approach to the stadium or during the game. We have enough to deal with at the moment.”

The quotes in question center around Islamophobic emails sent by the patriarch of the family, Joe Ricketts. The backlash has seen the hashtag #NotoRicketts trend on Twitter.

Despite the backlash, the Ricketts did progress to the next round. In an attempt to diffuse the situation, the Ricketts met with Chelsea stakeholders, which included a meeting between Tom Ricketts and Paul Canoville, the club’s first Black footballer. According to The Guardian, the meeting did not go down well with the other bidders nor with Chelsea supporters, only drawing more ire.
 
While further meetings are scheduled with fans and other supporter groups, Tuchel does not plan to meet with the Ricketts as he does not think it would be helpful.

Final bids are due on April 11 with the Ricketts being one of four candidates vying to take over the club from Roman Abramovich.

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