Football lawyer Nick De Marco has taken aim at Premier League chief executive Richard Masters following his recent comments regarding the Chelsea takeover.
Owner Roman Abramovich is hoping to sell the Blues in quick fashion due to sanctions imposed on him by the UK Government in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Discussing the Chelsea takeover situation, Masters recently told Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London: "I think the quickest one we have ever done is 10 days but that's not to say that that record cannot be beaten. Normally it will take a number of weeks but that will depend on the complexity of the deal really and the number of potential owners.”
De Marco, a QC at Blackstone Chambers, acted for Newcastle United after the club’s takeover by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was first blocked by the Premier League.
And he has taken issue with Chelsea being allowed to rush through a mega-money sale after Newcastle were forced to wait so long to oust Mike Ashley.
“The fastest a takeover can go through is 10 days according to the Premier League? Well I can tell you I wish Mr Masters had said that to us, and I suspect a lot of Newcastle fans feel the same - because that lasted for well over a year," De Marco told Sky Sports.
“Of course there were complicated issues in that case (the Newcastle takeover). But the issues in this case (Chelsea) are even more complicated. However, there’s probably a lot more goodwill in this case. Chelsea needs to be sold & it needs to be done quickly. It won’t be done in 10 days though.”
Masters drew criticism from Newcastle fans over the Premier League's handling of the Saudi takeover. Amanda Staveley helped broker a deal to buy the club from Ashley, and merely needed approval from the Premier League for the takeover to proceed.
However, the group initially walked away after the league's Owners’ and Directors’ test ran for 17 weeks, leaving the deal in ruins. Speaking after the deal eventually transpired, Masters said: "The takeover has gone through and we have to be comfortable that all the things we do at the Premier League will be preserved under the new ownership and the equality and diversity scheme will be preserved.
"You can't have one rule for one and one for another and so Newcastle will be run on the right basis. PIF are an investor in many other companies in this country and maybe football is being targeted and talked about in a different way. I can't choose who is chairing a football club. The owners test doesn't let us take a view on that."
