Premier League bosses are ready to switch off their Russian TV deal.
Richard Masters, the Premier League's chief executive, said agreements were “under review” and that could mean they terminate all broadcasts in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Foreign TV deals are huge for the Premier League - worth in excess of £5.3billion in total - and they have eclipsed the domestic rights for the first time.
The Russian rights are currently owned by TV firm Rambler, they are broadcast by Okko while Match TV - which is owned by Gazprom - is due to take over the contract with a six year deal from 2022/23.
But that multi-million deal could be terminated as another sporting sanction against Russia following the likes of UEFA ending their £50m-plus sponsorship deal with Gazprom.
Masters said: “I’d like the Russian people to see the strength of feeling in the Premier League and in English football this weekend.
“We’re looking at (the contracts) very closely in terms of suspension, termination. It’s happening right now. It’s a fast-moving situation.”
Masters also said that the Premier League’s owners and directors test was still valid even after Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich declared his intention to sell.
Masters said: “The test has been under a lot of scrutiny for the last 12 months and we’re looking at it again.
“As part of our process in responding to the fan-led review we’re looking at whether more tests need to be added, whether we need to be more transparent about those decisions and whether independent scrutiny really needs to be put on top of it.”
Asked whether there could be a human rights element in the future, Masters said: “We have had some helpful conversations with Amnesty International about those sort of things. I’m not going to say how it should change yet, because really it should be one test for football.”
