Chelsea: Multiple bids lodged to buy Premier League club

Lord Coe and another group led by a British property investor have all submitted offers to buy the club.

The club had been put up for sale by Roman Abramovich and a deadline had been set for Friday.

Candy said that he had secured additional investment from South Korea and that his bid was over 2 billion dollars.

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The attempt to sell the club was halted after the UK government froze his assets.

The move was made in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which was believed to have ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The UK government is expected to issue a new licence to allow the club to be sold once a preferred buyer is identified.

The deadline to purchase the west London premier league club was on Friday, but some final bids are likely to be submitted into the weekend.

The number of confirmed bids is likely to be 10 to 15.

The preferred bidder will have to prove the source of funds and where the money is going before the government will approve the deal.

Any sale will need to be approved by the owners of the league and the directors.

One of the bids was led by Sir Martin Broughton and Lord Coe.

The only person in the bidding process who has done a change of ownership at a major football club in a similar situation is Broughton.

As a lifelong fan, I am committed to making sure that we put fans first and ensure that we maintain our position at the top of European football.

If the bid was successful, fans would be at the heart of decision making and the club would never be beholden to a single individual or wealth fund.

The two South Korean firms Hana Financial Group and C&P Sports Group are a significant part of Mr Candy's global consortium of investors.

Their involvement is a representation of the global brand and huge fan base in Asia.

Football clubs are important community and cultural assets, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give football back to the fans and put them at the heart of the operations and strategy of a leading global football club.

Ken Griffin is a billionaire hedge fund investor.

A Turkish businessman, who had previously expressed an interest in the club, said late on Friday that his company had not filed a bid.

Bayrak told the news agency that he was very upset by the situation and attributed the failure to meet the deadline to a misunderstanding with his lawyers.

In his statement announcing his intention to sell he said that his ownership had never been about money or business, but about pure passion for the game.

He values the club at 3 billion dollars and has lent the club 1.5 billion dollars. The proceeds of the sale will be donated to war victims.

The funds from the sale could be put into a frozen account.

Who are the potential bidders for Chelsea?

1. A consortium led by ex-Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton, and joined by London 2012 chief Lord Coe.
2. The Ricketts family, who own Major League Baseball team the Chicago Cubs, are leading a bid from a group of investors.
3. Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and US businessman Todd Boehly have formed part of a consortium to try to take over Chelsea. Now joined by American PR executive Barbara Charone, British businessman Jonathan Goldstein and British journalist Daniel Finkelstein.
4. London-based investment firm Aethel Partners, headed by Portuguese entrepreneur Ricardo Silva.
5. British multi-millionaire businessman Nick Candy, supported by former Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli, who co-owns Tifosy, a mergers and acquisitions company for the football sector and joined by Hana Financial Group and C&P Sports Group.
6. Other parties reported to be interested include US billionaire and Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris who has a stake in Crystal Palace, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and a Saudi Arabia-based consortium.