Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston has called for a “more robust” approach to the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test and believes football can manage “perfectly well” without Russian investment.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich having all his UK assets frozen amid his alleged ties to Vladimir Putin, links the billionaire has denied but which Downing Street claims to have proven.
It has shone an uncomfortable light on the buyers of clubs, with Newcastle’s takeover by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund – which was controversial because of the country’s human rights record – still fresh in the memory.
A fan-led review, chaired by Conservative MP Tracey Crouch, indicated an independent regulator is needed to protect the future of key aspects of the English game, with Huddleston anticipating a formal response “soon”.
Appearing before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, Huddleston said: “We recognise and the Premier League recognise that the owners’ and directors’ test needs further work, it needs to be more robust.
“I think we’re at a turning point for English football. The fan-led review is pivotally important. We recognise there are failures in the structure and governance of English football.
“If it was all working perfectly we’d never have needed the fan-led review which will be pivotal because it will contain an independent regulator.
“That is a fundamental change in the structure and eco-system of English football. It will include further information and measures around the owners’ and directors’ test.”
Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale on March 2, which the Government will oversee as the Russian-Israeli is barred from profiting amid the sanctions imposed upon him, and the club are now operating under special licence.
While Huddleston would not be drawn on whether Abramovich, who has been at the Stamford Bridge helm for nearly two decades, had been good or bad for football, the Conservative MP insisted he does not want Chelsea to go bust.
He said: “The action we’ve taken is precisely to stop that from happening because what we’ve enabled is for Chelsea to continue to operate and play and for staff to be paid.
“We are working with Chelsea and the fans that the measures we have put in place primarily impact Roman Abramovich and make sure he does not benefit. We want to make sure the sanctions hit those we intend to hit and not others.”
The DCMS session was convened to examine the role of Russian money in both the ownership and sponsorship of football clubs but Huddleston added: “There’s plenty of other investors around the world who we can work with.
“Globally, there’s a lot of money in sport and a lot of money in football and I think we can manage perfectly well without Russian investment overall.
“I really cannot see circumstances for quite a long period of time where we’re going to welcome that money back, I genuinely can’t.
“I don’t think it would be morally acceptable, it may in many cases not be legally possible because we’ll still have considerable sanctions imposed on many entities and I don’t think fans around the world, and in particular in this country, would find that acceptable either.”
Russia’s clubs and national sides have been excluded from FIFA and UEFA competitions, while several other sports sanctioning bodies have elected to suspend the country’s teams.
Huddleston said: “As long as Russia continues to be a pariah on the world stage, those sanctions will last. I think it’s going to be quite a while before we accept Russia back onto the world sporting stage.”
Individual Russian sportspeople may be asked to provide guarantees they will not fly their national flag while competing on UK soil.
When asked specifically whether US Open men’s singles tennis champion Daniil Medvedev would be allowed to take part at Wimbledon this year, Huddleston said: “Absolutely nobody flying the flag for Russia should be allowed or enabled.
“We need some potential assurance that they are not supporters of Vladimir Putin. We’re considering what requirements we may need. Would I be comfortable with a Russian athlete flying the Russian flag? No.
“Many, many countries around the world have agreed that we will not allow representatives to compete, there’s also visa implications as well.
“When it comes to individuals, that gets a bit more complex so we are looking at and talking to various sports in terms of what the response and requirements should be there.”
Huddleston added he is “in discussions” with the All England Tennis Club regarding all Russian players.
When asked if Boris Johnson would like to see Medvedev play at Wimbledon, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Nigel Huddleston set out our position on that, we wouldn’t want anyone in support of Putin and his regime competing. He said that he is in discussion with the relevant associations about what is suitable, but those discussions are still ongoing.”
Challenged on whether that would mean players like Medvedev having to publicly denounce the Russian president or sign a declaration, the spokesman said: “That’s one of the reasons why we are still having discussions with the relevant authorities about what’s the appropriate approach.
“But we have seen, by and large, sporting bodies unite and take quite a strong stance on this.”
