Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has warned the Ricketts family to bear the consequence of their comments ahead of the Fans’ protest against them at Stamford bridge in their home game against Brentford.
The Ricketts family is one of the frontrunners in the bid to buy Chelsea, ever since they submitted their bid takeover to Chelsea, there has been outrage by the Chelsea Fan group. This started when Brian Wolff, the head of the Chelsea Chicago Supporter’s Club and a Cubs season ticket holder, described the Ricketts family takeover as disastrous for the club. This sparked a strong Twitter campaign with the hashtag ‘NoToRicketts’.
This is as a result of Their 80 years old father, Joe Ricketts in a leaked email in 2012 was caught making controversial comments about race, including saying, Muslims are my enemy,” referring to Islam as a “cult,” and laughing at racist jokes.
However, Ricketts Family has assured fans of their support and commitment to keeping the club’s values. In a statement released by the family, they said: “Our family rejects in the strongest terms any form of hatred. Racism and Islamophobia have no place in our society. We have developed deep and strong partnerships with the Muslim community in Chicago, as well as with all communities of color.”
“Respect for diversity and inclusion is central to our family values. If we win our bid for Chelsea, we commit ourselves to the club and the fans to actively promote these values
The Ricketts’ are planning to meet with fans again after speaking to the club’s Supporters’ Trust but the Blues Fans still Think otherwise.
Over 20000 Fans have signed an Online over the Ricketts family bid citing the comments made by their father. The planned protest will come off on Saturday Chelsea meet Brentford.
When the Chelsea manager was asked about fans’ concerns over The Ricketts he said: “Nowadays you have to deal with it and you have to face the consequences if you are responsible for these kinds of quotes. You have to face the consequences.
“If one of the consequences is that the fans protest or give their opinions you have to deal with it.”
Tuchel also admonished Chelsea Fans not to allow their Protest against The Ricketts to affect their prospect of winning trophies this season.
He added: “I hope it will not disturb the team and the fans who support us will remember we have a team who is challenging in three competitions in a crucial moment of the season and don’t distract them in their approach to the stadium or the stadium during the game.
“We have enough to deal with at the moment. We don’t need another issue.”
Tuchel has stated that he will not act as a mediator between future owners and fans.
“It’s better not to be involved because I think strongly what makes Chelsea strong is everybody knows his role and everybody knows his role is to play to the limit and push yourself to the limit,” he said. “Also it is to understand where your limits are and where your responsibilities lie,”
“I don’t think that would suit me and would help any ongoing process with the sale. That’s why I think it does not help.”
