The offer made by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, CEO of Ineos, to take control of Chelsea, which is estimated to be around 5 billion pounds (about 5.92 billion euros), was automatically rejected.
This offer arrived outside the submission deadline and with Todd Boehly's candidacy, owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, already chosen as the preferred one by the Raine Group, the American bank chosen by Roman Abramovich, the current owner of the club.
Having not adhered to the Raine Group process, Tom Crotty, director of Ineos, announced that the offer presented last week was automatically rejected, but Ratcliffe remains interested in acquiring the ownership of the club.
Boehly was the chosen proposal out of the three that reached the final process, along with Martin Broughton, former president of Liverpool and British Airways, and Stephen Pagliuca, co-owner of the Boston Celtics and Atalanta Italian club.
Abramovich and the sale of Chelsea
However, the process is currently paused due to the growing uncertainty about whether Abramovich will require the club to repay the 1.5 billion pounds (1.8 billion euros) he has loaned to the club during his 19-year tenure.
The special license granted to the club by the British government will expire on May 31, so it is expected that the purchase will have already been formalized by then. Otherwise, the government will have to extend the license or the club could go bankrupt.