Chelsea's supporters trust (CST) has admitted it 'still has concerns' over the Ricketts family's bid to buy the club amid growing tensions over their desire to take over the club from Roman Abramovich.
The US-based family, who own the Chicago Cubs MLB baseball team, flew into London to smooth over concerns about their potential ownership after comments resurfaced from Joe Ricketts in 2012 saying Muslims were 'naturally my enemy'.
Ricketts Snr has since apologised for his words before stepping away from the Cubs, while son Tom released a statement earlier this week promising supporters that they 'reject any form of hate', promising to 'promote diversity and inclusion' if they are picked to take the club forward.
But the CST said it is not fully satisfied about their plans for the club after meeting them in London, admitting the 'strength of feeling' towards them from Chelsea supporters 'cannot and must not be ignored'.
In a statement, the CST said: 'It is essential that the new owners of the club has the confidence of the supporter base and demonstrate an understanding of the values that we stand for. That is why the strength of feeling towards the Ricketts family bid from Chelsea supporters cannot and must not be ignored.
'The CST are grateful to the Ricketts family for meeting with us this week. We challenged them on all of the points supporters have raised concerns about. However, our concerns about their ability to run an inclusive, successful club on behalf of our diverse supporter base around the world have not yet been allayed.
'It is for the Ricketts family to demonstrate how they will address supporter concerns – especially with regard to inclusivity, given both past and recent statements by members of the family, and they have not yet done that.
'They must do so publicly and they must do so urgently. If they are unable to do this and gain the confidence of Chelsea supporters, the CST Board does not believe it would be in the best interests of our members and Chelsea supporters for their bid to succeed. We will also survey our members in the coming week on this point.
'Any new owner of Chelsea FC must demonstrate its commitment to protecting supporters and the club's heritage as well as taking it forward for the next generation of fans.
'The CST will continue to ensure that supporters' voices are heard by the new owners, whoever they may be, and we anticipate further dialogue with prospective owners as the process progresses.'
Joe Ricketts has previously apologised for his words, said his views 'didn't reflect his value system'.
'I deeply regret and apologize for some of the exchanges I had in my emails. Sometimes I received emails that I should have condemned,' he said in a statement.
'Other times I’ve said things that don’t reflect my value system. I strongly believe that bigoted ideas are wrong.'
After concerns began to ramp up among the Chelsea faithful after news that the Ricketts' family - backed by hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin - the US-based group released a statement reiterating their desire to promote diversity at the club.
'Our family rejects any form of hate in the strongest possible terms,' it said. 'Racism and Islamophobia have no place whatsoever in our society. We have developed deep and abiding partnerships with the Muslim community in Chicago, as well as with all communities of colour.
'Respect for diversity and inclusion are central to our family's values. If we prevail in our bid for Chelsea, we commit to the Club and to the fans that we will actively promote these values.'
It comes as the Raine Group - who are conducting the process of appointing the club's next owners - prepare to announce the final shortlist of preferred bidders.
The Ricketts family are expected to be among the final candidates, as well as a consortium headed by LA Dodgers chief Todd Boehly and one fronted by Olympic legend Sebastian Coe and former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton.
Out of the running are the Saudi Media Group, a bid led by New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and London-based asset manager Centricus and Turkish tycoon Muhsin Bayrak.
