Former Man United defender Gary Neville agrees with the Raine Group's decision to snub Saudi Media's Chelsea takeover bid due to the 'human rights' issues that were highlighted during Newcastle's sale.
Todd Boehly and the Ricketts Group are just two of the interested parties who are in the running to buy Chelsea from owner Roman Abramovich, while Sir Martin Broughton's consortium is also under consideration.
The likes of Nick Candy's consortium coupled with others like the Saudi Media Group failed to make the cut with Raine due to the mitigating factors, although reportedly the main reason for Mohamed Al Khereiji's bid being snubbed was the timeframe of any deal that would have prevented a quick sale. Chelsea themselves need a quick sale and it's believed a deal could be done before the end of April.
READ MORE: New Chelsea stadium: Boehly, Ricketts and Broughton's Stamford Bridge plans following takeover
Neville has hinted of his relief that the Saudi Media Group will not be buying Chelsea, and cited human rights issues in Middle Eastern countries as a reason for this. The former defender has spoken on this subject passionately before, especially when Newcastle were taken over by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
"Do you want a Russian coming into Old Trafford that has got £20billion? No," Neville outlined on the Overlap's third series this season of the Fan Debate. "Do you want Chinese money coming into Old Trafford at this moment in time?
"Would you want Middle Eastern money coming to a Premier League club whereby they have massive human rights issues and massive workers rights issues? We've got to be careful where we look at where are the buyers for these huge assets coming from?" Although Saudi Media now have no chance of becoming the majority owner of the Stamford Bridge club, they haven't ruled out yet joining forces with one of the American consortiums - something that could worry Neville in the long run considering his strong views on these matters.
