The English Premier League is fortifying its tests for those who own and operate clubs in the world’s richest football division, as the UK government piles pressure on the competition to strengthen governance.
The tightened rules broaden the criteria that would cause a club director to be disqualified, including a more extensive list of criminal offences that can be taken into account, such as fraud and tax evasion.
They also widen the number of relevant regulatory bodies recognised by the league to include the UK’s financial regulators, the Charity Commission, HM Revenue & Customs and the Gambling Commission. The league said suspension from any of them would now count as a disqualifying event for club owners and directors.
Government sanctions and human rights abuses will now also preclude individuals and companies from owning teams in the league, while club chief executives will also be brought under the scope of the rules.
The reforms come after widespread concern over so-called sportswashing, the use of investment in sport by states or individuals to improve their reputations. Meanwhile, Premier League clubs, which are set to generate £6bn of revenue this year, have become the subject of huge investor interest.
US investors Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly acquired Chelsea FC for a record £2.5bn last May following the imposition of sanctions on oligarch Roman Abramovich in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In 2021, Newcastle United was bought by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, prompting outcry from human rights groups. Clubs forced former league chair Gary Hoffman to resign over his handling of the deal.
The reforms won unanimous approval at a meeting of the league’s 20 clubs on Thursday, and take effect immediately. Further changes will be put to clubs in June.
Peter Frankental, economic affairs director at Amnesty International UK, said recognising human rights abuses as an issue was a “step in the right direction”, but that “merely checking whether people are on an existing UK sanctions list is a very low bar”.
“The Premier League needs to adopt an active screening process and not just outsource its due diligence to others”, he said.
The Premier League’s revamp of its rules comes as the American Glazer family explores a sale of Manchester United. British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is vying with Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, the son of a former Qatari prime minister, to acquire United, although the Glazers could choose to keep the club.
Football governance is increasingly in the spotlight, partly as a result of the failed attempt to launch a breakaway European Super League in 2021. The UK government set out plans last month to set up an independent football regulator that will supervise club finances and governance.
The regulator will also set up new tests to scrutinise owners’ source of wealth and “fitness and propriety”. The government’s white paper on reforms said it had identified owners across English football with flaws including “long histories of business bankruptcies” and “serious criminal convictions”.
The Premier League has recently announced two significant enforcement actions, charging Everton last week over alleged breaches of financial regulations, and last month accusing Manchester City of more than 100 instances of rule-breaking. Both clubs deny wrongdoing.
Premier League chief Richard Masters has warned of the risk that heavy-handed regulation could dissuade investors from putting money into clubs, harming the competitiveness of what has become one of Britain’s top cultural exports.
