The Premier League tightened its owners’ and directors’ test on Thursday, banning anyone discovered to have committed human rights abuses.
The modifications, which will take effect immediately, were unanimously agreed by England’s top-flight clubs at a shareholders meeting.
They come at a moment when the ownership of Premier League clubs is being called into question, with bidders lining up for Manchester United. Newcastle United was purchased in 2021 by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) after assurances that the Saudi government would have no influence over the club.
Amnesty International has called the takeover “a clear attempt by the Saudi authorities to sportswash their appalling human rights record with the glamour of top-flight football.”
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, a member of Qatar’s royal family, is leading one of the groups attempting to purchase Manchester United from the Glazer family. Qatar, which hosted the 2022 World Cup, has been chastised for its treatment of foreign workers, a homosexuality prohibition, and restrictions on political speech.
According to the Premier League, the new ‘disqualifying event’ for human rights violations is founded on the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020. It stated that the threshold for what defines control of a club would be reduced from 30% to 25%, and that chief executives would be included in the test, as well as a new concept of “relevant signatories.”
Individuals and/or businesses exposed to government sanctions are among the new disqualifying events. Violence, corruption, fraud, tax evasion, and hate crimes have been added to the roster of criminal acts that will result in disqualification. Insolvency provisions were also expanded to allow the league to take action against individuals “involved in previous insolvencies in a broader range of circumstances.”
The Premier League pledged more clarity and transparency, as well as a new power “to prevent those who wish to become directors from becoming directors if they are under investigation for conduct that would result in a disqualifying event if proven.”
