Amnesty International has repeated calls for the Premier League introduce a “human rights-compliant element” to its owners’ and directors’ test after Roman Abramovich confirmed his intention to sell Chelsea.
Facing the threat of sanctions from the British state, Abramovich said in a statement on Wednesday that he has put Chelsea up for sale, signalling an end to his 19-year ownership of the Premier League club.
Labour leader Keir Starmer urged Boris Johnson to impose sanctions on Abramovich during Prime Minister’s questions amid Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine. Abramovich denies allegations that he has strong ties to Vladimir Putin.
A report in The Guardian on Thursday claimed the Premier League were considering adding a human rights component as part of a review into the controversial owners’ and directors’ test.
Amnesty had previously called for the test to include greater scrutiny of human rights concerns and sportswashing amid the Saudi Arabia-led takeover of Newcastle United.
“Roman Abramovich is not the only mega-rich owner of an English Premier League club with personal and business connections to an overseas authoritarian leader, and we fully expect that his departure from Chelsea will reignite the debate around the Premier League owners’ and directors’ test,” Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s CEO, said in a statement.
“In light of Saudi Arabia’s hugely controversial takeover of Newcastle United, we’ve been calling for the Premier League to introduce a new, properly human rights-compliant element to its test.
“Mohammed bin Salman bought into the glamour and prestige of the Premier League in a clear attempt to sportswash an appalling human rights record at home, and he surely won’t be the last to do so.
“In an era of global sportswashing and with the horror of what is currently unfolding in Ukraine, the Premier League has a clear moral responsibility to change its ownership rules to put a stop to top-flight English football being used as a PR vehicle for those complicit in serious human rights violations.”
Richard Masters, the chief executive of the Premier League, confirmed the organisation’s commercial TV deal with Russia is “under review” following the invasion of Ukraine.
Asked directly whether Abramovich facing sanctions from the UK Government made a mockery of the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test, Masters replied: “I don’t think so.
“The test has been under a lot of scrutiny for the last 12 months and we’re looking at it again. As part of our process in responding to the fan-led review we’re looking at whether more tests need to be added, whether we need to be more transparent about those decisions and whether independent scrutiny really needs to be put on top of it.
“We have had some helpful conversations with Amnesty International about those sort of things. I’m not going to say how it should change yet, because really it should be one test for football.”
