Saudi Media Company Trying To Buy Chelsea Football Club From Sanctioned Russian Billionaire

A company in Saudi Arabia is trying to buy the top-tier Chelsea Football Club, which plays in the British Premier League. Team owner Roman Abramovich, a Russian billionaire, put the team up for sale last week amid sanctions levied on him by the United Kingdom and the European Union due to his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mohamed Alkhereiji, chairman of the Saudi Media Company, which is already heavily invested in British newspapers The Independent and the Evening Standard, has bid nearly $3.6 billion for the popular soccer team. The company has no direct links to the Saudi government, according to The New Arab news site. The Saudi sovereign fund, known as the Public Investment Fund (PIF), own 80% of the British soccer club Newcastle United.