Spanos siblings say they won't sell Chargers

Earlier on Thursday, reports surfaced that Dea Spanos Berberian had requested that Los Angeles Chargers owner Dean Spanos and her other two siblings agree to sell the NFL franchise to offset massive amounts of debt linked with the family trust. 

"Every day that passes increases the risks that the charitable beneficiaries and the Spanos family legacy will suffer irreparable financial and reputational damage," she wrote in a petition. 

Dean Spanos, Alexis Spanos Ruhl and Michael Spanos responded via a statement shared on the Chargers' website: 

"Our parents, Alex and Faye, wanted the Chargers to be part of the Spanos Family for generations to come. For the three of us the Chargers is one of our family's most important legacies, just as it was for our parents. Unfortunately, our sister Dea seems to have a different and misguided personal agenda. If Dea no longer wishes to be part of this family legacy, the three of us stand ready to purchase her share of the franchise, as our agreements give us the right to do. In the meanwhile, the operations of the Chargers will be entirely unaffected by this matter, which relates only to the 36 percent share of the team that was owned by our parents. The three of us are entitled to three-fourths of that 36 percent share in any event, and under no circumstances will this situation impact control of the franchise. The three of us will remain firmly united as we seek to fulfill our parents' wishes to make every decision in the best interests of the Los Angeles Chargers." 

According to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, the four Spanos siblings each own 15% of the Chargers, and the Spanos family trust run by Dea and Dean owns 36%. Other investors own the remaining four percent.