Bates resigns as Chelsea chief

Ken Bates has resigned as chairman of Chelsea, the club said on Tuesday.

“At an emotional ‘last’ Chairman’s Supper Club attended by over 300 people, he (Bates) expressed ‘no blame’ as he said that the intended period of hand over from himself to the new regime had not gone as he had anticipated, and that the differences of eastern and western cultures perhaps resulted in his decision,” the club said.

There had been speculation about the position of the 72-year-old since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the premier league club last July, which intensified with the arrival of former Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon in February.