Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are set to attend this week’s Premier League meeting for the first time after completing the £4.25bn Chelsea takeover last month
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Chelsea’s new owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are set to attend the Premier League annual meeting on Thursday in the first major change of the new era at Stamford Bridge.
The £4.25billion club takeover was completed by the American businessman Boehly’s consortium last month with Roman Abramovich ending his 19-year ownership of Chelsea. As a new era begins, a major change takes place.
For the first time, the new owners will attend the meeting rather than Bruce Buck and Marina Granovskaia. It was believed that the pair would be kept on by the Boehly consortium but it remains uncertain as to whether they will remain at the club, according to The Times.
The meeting is set to take place in Harrogate, with Boehly and Eghbali meeting the other 19 top-flight club representatives for the first time.
Thursday’s meeting will also see Premier League clubs debate radical changes to owners and directors, including bans on sales to nation states. This comes after the Saudi Arabia’s £300m purchase of Newcastle last year.
Ahead of the meeting, the Premier League are understood to have a list of these issues prepared. Other than Newcastle, Manchester City are the only other club to benefit from state ownership.
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The Abu Dhabi United Group have a wealth fund owning 78 per-cent, which reflects on other clubs’ concerns. Government-backed takeovers are based on historical strength, owner investment and private equity in Chelsea’s case.
An example of this is Burnley’s financial situation after their relegation to the Championship, where ALK Capital have had to take two loans and are believed to be close to securing another, following their takeover last year. Though for this to be banned, the Premier League would need the support of all clubs.
Manchester United, meanwhile, were also funded by loans after the Glazer family took over in 2005. They have, however, been able to turn that into a profitable business but have yet failed to invest some of their profit in their stadium.
Other issues listed are how clubs can improve their engagement with fans, how to act an ethical element to the owners and directors test and the Gambling Act which betting companies are expected to be banned from shirt sponsoring.
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