Tom Ricketts issues commitment to diversity at Chelsea after concerns over bid

Tom said that his family and bid team have an "absolute commitment to diversity and inclusion" if they succeed.

But there are concerns over the bid after it emerged that the family's patriarch, Joe Ricketts, was accused of Islamophobia three years ago.

The family's bid is against the beliefs of the CST.

The CST conducted a survey of its members on April 1 to see if they had confidence in the family's ability to run a successful club.

It did not say how many members took part, but it did say that 70% of those who responded do not currently have confidence in the Ricketts family to run an inclusive and successful club.

The CST said that the majority of members who responded did not support the bid by the Ricketts family.

The board is guided by our membership and thus we do not believe it is in the best interests of our members.

Some Blues fans protested against the Ricketts family before the game against Brentford on Saturday because of their bid.

Over the past fortnight, our bid team has met with several supporter groups to explain our vision for the club.

If our bid is successful, we have shared a set of specific commitments we will make to fans.

We believe these are far-reaching and include an absolute commitment on the part of the bid team to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of the club.

We look forward to more meetings with the trust and to making a public reiteration of our values and commitments.

The final offers for the club have to be submitted by 11 April.