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sports Diabierna 22 aPriL 2022

Lewis Hamilton, Serena Williams part of bid to buy Chelsea

(AP) — The crowded field to buy dent Sebastian Coe.
Chelsea now features 23-time Another bid has seen Boston Celtics
Grand Slam winner Serena Wil- co-owner Steve Pagliuca partner with
liams and seven-time Formula Larry Tanenbaum, who has owner-
One champion Lewis Hamilton. ship stakes in Toronto with the NBA’s
Raptors, the NHL’s Maple Leafs and
A long-standing fan of Arsenal, Ham- the city’s MLS team. Peter Guber, a
ilton has seized the opportunity to in- part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodg-
vest in its London rival as three bid- ers, is also backing in the group.
ders try to buy the Premier League
club from sanctioned Russian owner Another part-owner of the Dodgers,
Roman Abramovich. Todd Boehly, is leading another con-
sortium hoping to be announced as
Williams and Hamilton are part of a the preferred bidder.
consortium that features proposed
investment from Josh Harris and Da- A New York-based merchant bank,
vid Blitzer, the owners of the NBA’s the Raine Group, has been overseeing
Philadelphia 76ers who would have the sale process that was announced
to sell their stakes in Premier League last month by Abramovich follow-
club Crystal Palace to buy Chelsea. ing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The
oligarch has been sanctioned by Brit-
The reigning world and European ain and the European Union over his
champions could be sold for 3 bil- links to Russian President Vladimir
lion pounds ($4 billion) — a record Putin with assets frozen, including
in world sports — given the interest Chelsea.
in the west London club.
Abramovich has been disqualified
Representatives for Hamilton said he from running Chelsea by the Premier
planned to invest more than 10 mil- League and he cannot profit from the
lion pounds ($13 million) in the bid proceeds of the sale, which the Brit-
being fronted by former Liverpool ish government must approve under
and British Airways chairman Martin terms of a license that allows the team
Broughton and World Athletics presi- to continue operating.

Wright resigns as Villanova coach, Neptune takes over

(AP) — Jay Wright era of Villanova basketball,” giate athletics and keep Villa- NCAA Tournament. 2018, winning every game by
shocked college basket- Wright said in a statement. nova in a position of strength double digits on its way to the
ball Wednesday night with “After 35 years in coaching, I — now and in the future,” Wright needed three years national title.
his immediate resignation am proud and excited to hand Villanova athletic director to build a foundation before
at Villanova, the Big East over the reins to Villanova’s Mark Jackson said. “After Villanova broke through with He was selected AP coach of
program he led to two na- next coach. I am excited to meeting with several excep- a trip to the 2005 Sweet 16. the decade in 2020.
tional championships and remain a part of Villanova tional candidates, we found An Elite Eight appearance
four Final Fours in a Hall and look forward to working all those attributes and more followed the next year and The 37-year-old Neptune
of Fame career. with (Villanova) and the rest in Kyle Neptune. Kyle quick- the Wildcats reached the Fi- was on Wright’s staff for the
of the leadership team.” ly stood out for his basketball nal Four in 2009. 2009 Final Four team, then
The 60-year-old Wright guid- knowledge, recruiting savvy later spent three seasons as an
ed Villanova to titles in 2016 Kyle Neptune, who served and natural ability to connect Villanova won its first na- assistant at Niagara before he
and 2018 and just led the on the Villanova coaching with student-athletes and tional title under Wright in returned to the Wildcats in
Wildcats to the Final Four, staff before accepting the coaches.” 2016 on Kris Jenkins’ buzz- 2013. He went 16-16 in his
where they lost to national head coaching position at er-beater and decimated the lone season at Fordham.
champion Kansas. He went Fordham in 2021, returned Wright’s decision was unex- NCAA Tournament field in
520-197 in 21 seasons at the to replace Wright. pected and there was no im-
school and 642-282 overall, mediate word the move was
also coaching Hofstra from “When looking for a suc- health related or that he was
1994–2001. cessor, we wanted a candi- leaving for the NBA. He was
date who could navigate the inducted into the Naismith
“It’s time for us to enter a new changing landscape of colle- Basketball Hall of Fame in
2021.

Wright will remain at Vil-
lanova and stay involved in
fundraising, advising, educa-
tion and more.

He joined North Carolina’s
Roy Williams and Duke’s
Mike Krzyzewski as the third
coach with multiple champi-
onship to step down over the
last two years.

Before he arrived, Villanova
was known for upsetting
Georgetown in the 1985 na-
tional championship game
and the occasional trip to the