He Chelsea FC hires the general manager of The Athletic as the person in charge of women’s football. Aki Mandhar has been named chief executive of the women’s team, according to the BBC. The team was crowned champion of the Women’s Super League last season. The executive arrives from managing the sports media owned by the New York Times.
She has no previous experience in managing a football club, but worked for ten years as general manager of MediaCom’s entertainment division, eventually becoming director of operations for the newspaper The Telegraph and after passing through the general management of The Athletic and the United Kingdom, she was promoted to general manager of the publication on an international scale. Paul Green, the team’s general manager, will continue to be the main person responsible for the recruitment of players.
This appointment is part of a new structure within the club. Starting this season, the Chelsea Women’s Team will operate independently of the men’s team’s operations. In May, the club announced a strategic growth plan that repositions the women’s team as a entity parallel to the masculinewith dedicated resources, commercial leadership and management. This structural change has led to the hiring of Mandhar as CEO.
As well as the internal restructuring, Chelsea has hired bank BDT & MSD Partners to sell a minority stake in the club and attract investment. Mandhar will take over against a backdrop of uncertainty for the club, with the two main ownership groups, led by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, locked in a dispute for control of the club, with each side attempting to acquire the other’s stake.
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