The chairman of the world's richest basketball league has joined one of the consortia preparing to table final takeover bids for Chelsea FC.

Larry Tanenbaum chairs the National Basketball Association, or NBA and owns a host of North American sports teams.

According to Sky Sports News, he is among the investors backing Steve Pagliuca's offer for the Stamford Bridge club. 

Mr Pagliuca is the private equity billionaire who has made a fortune from his career at Bain Capital. 

Among the group's other co-investors are said to be John Burbank, founder of the San Francisco hedge fund Passport Capital. 

Also, Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook co-founder who was the first investor in the tech organisation.