Richard Masters admitted the Premier League feared Chelsea’s takeover would not be completed.
Top-flight chief executive Masters also confessed Roman Abramovich might not have secured his 2003 takeover if the current proper owners’ and directors’ test had been in place. US tycoon Todd Boehly took over Chelsea and just beat the Government deadline of May 31 to complete the deal after Abramovich had been sanctioned because of links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Masters said: “You're in unique circumstances - nothing like this has happened before. There was obviously a genuine concern the sale wouldn't take place in the timeframe that was available. That didn't happen, thankfully.
“A lot of people worked extremely hard on it at the club's end, Government's end and Premier League's end to make sure things were running as smoothly as possible. All I can say is we're very pleased that it happened, obviously.”
Asked whether the Abramovich era was good for football, Masters said: “It's difficult to say now with hindsight that it's all been good, obviously, given what has transpired over the last six-and-a-half months.
“I think if you ask Chelsea fans, they'd give you a different answer. I think the situation we ended with has given the sport some challenges we've got to meet.
“Ultimately, there wasn't an owners and directors test when Abramovich took ownership of Chelsea, and so I suppose the answer to the question is had there been that in place what would have happened and what safeguards we need to build in for the future.”
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Meanwhile, the Premier League have confirmed the Carabao Cup is here to stay despite the extra pressure on fixtures because of the Champions League reforms.
Masters added: “I think the biggest impact of the Uefa reforms are on the League Cup because of the loss of midweeks, so we need to find a solution to that.
“If you talk to Premier League clubs, they want the League Cup to remain, they want it to remain part of the competition, the Wembley slot, the European place. That's one of the things we've got to discuss and that's got to happen now.”
