The footballing world was shocked when Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovic put the club up for sale. Chelsea supporters and football fans initially thought it to be a joke until the owner himself announced the price tag of Chelsea to the tune of 3 billion.
Since the news made the headlines, many bids have flooded in from individuals like British Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe to UFC superstar Conor McGregor. The latest to join in the race to purchase the club from the Russian Oligarch is Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng.
Changpeng Bids to Own Chelsea, But Rescinds
It may come as a surprise that the Binance CEO also has his eyes set on football and that it isn’t all about cryptocurrency. However, in business, such chances shouldn’t ever be ruled out, and it seems Changpeng cleverly understands that. He knows the number of opportunities that will open once he successfully buys one of the biggest football clubs globally.
According to a spokesperson from the crypto firm, Changpeng Zhao or CZ had met with the U.S. investment bank standing in for the club to negotiate the purchase. However, it seemed the deal broke down, as CZ indicated he wasn’t interested in owning a football club.
CZ added that owning a football club wasn’t his priority. He may have given the crypto community the wrong signal about his interests. While the community considers the deal solid for the crypto billionaire, it understands that it isn’t a good time to purchase a club as massive as Chelsea.
Binance has already established a solid presence in football as the exchange platform was one of the major sponsors of the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. The exchange also sponsored the Argentinian football national team and Italian club Lazio. However, that’s just it, as CZ doesn’t have plans to own a club yet.
Changpeng’s reasons for pulling out of the race to purchase Chelsea could be attributed to his strained relationship with British regulators. Binance was under fire last year for running a business without a centralized location amongst other offenses. This subjected the exchange to intense scrutiny by regulators from the U.K., U.S., and other countries.
Crypto Firms Venture into the Sports World
Currently, many trading firms are venturing into the sports world. Crypto.com has stamped its foothold in UFC, Basketball, Formula 1, eSports, and the football world. Last year, the platform entered into a long-term sponsorship deal with the Paris Saint Germain football club to become their official crypto partner.
Before that, the Singaporean firm had secured another long-term deal with famous Basketball team Los Angeles Lakers to have their home renamed after the firm. This adds to the $100M deal it struck with Formula 1 to sponsor the Sprint Series.
Roman Abramovic’s decision to sell Chelsea came following Russia’s Ukraine invasion. He has decided to donate 100% of his proceeds from the sale to the victims of the war.
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