Reddit founder's £20m Chelsea women deal 'game changing'

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has called Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian's £20m investment in the club a "game-changing endorsement".

Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams, has bought an 8-10% stake in the women's team, and stated an ambition to make it the "next global women's sports brand".

He is due to be at Wembley, with Williams, for Sunday's FA Cup final, where Chelsea are aiming for a domestic Treble.

Bompastor said Ohanian's investment will take Chelsea Women to another level, and the news would be an "extra motivation" for players and staff ahead of Sunday's game against Manchester United.

"This investment is a game-changing endorsement for women's game but also for young girls," she said.

"It just shows we are in a really great place but we still want to be an even better team, better club, and we want to be one of the best teams in the world.

"That means results on the pitch but also we want to be a model outside the pitch, we want to make sure that when young girls look at our team they just dream of being one of our players of the future."

Ohanian is no stranger to investing in women's sport - having been the largest shareholder in American club side Angel City FC until it was sold in 2024 for £192.3m, and founding a women-only athletics event named Athlos.

Bompastor said she thought the financial backing, which brings with it a seat on the board of Chelsea Women, would be a "big help" in terms of them achieving an elusive Champions League title.

Chelsea have been dominant domestically, but they were knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals, beaten 8-2 on aggregate by holders Barcelona.

"We want to make sure we are in a position to compete for the Champions League," added Bompastor.

"This year we couldn't and we were not successful and I take the responsibility for that. Hopefully next year we will be in a better position. Having this exciting news and this great investment in the women's team will help for sure."

Last year a decision was taken to separate Chelsea's men's and women's teams, as part of a strategic plan to help the club adhere to the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules.

Bompastor said the decision to make the women's team a separate entity was the "right decision", as it meant Ohanian's investment would solely benefit the women's side.

"The club made some decisions in the past weeks and I think they made the right decisions, to allow this team to have investors to come in and bring the team even to another level.

"This will only go to the women's team and will help the women's team invest in terms of infrastructure, facilities, in terms of staff and players."

Asked whether there was an extra buzz among the players following the news, Bompastor said: "I didn't talk about it with the players but sure all of them are on social media.

"The game [on Sunday] is something we want to stay focused on, that's really important.

"I think it is probably an extra motivation going into the game on Sunday because we want to go into the game showing pride, but with this exciting news you also want to be responsible for the result you get on Sunday and show our best version."