Posted in: Last updated:
London (AFP) – The chaos that swept the English club Chelsea in the wake of the sanctions imposed on its billionaire owner, Russian Roman Abramovich, has sparked a new debate over the sources of money that feed the richest leagues in Europe.
The English club’s assets were frozen after Abramovich was targeted by the British government in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and thus he is prohibited from profiting financially from ticket sales and merchandise.
The urgent sale of the European champions will soon bring down the curtain on 19 years of almost uninterrupted success under the 55-year-old owner, who has witnessed five Premier League titles and two Champions League titles.
It was Chelsea’s first home game since the imposition of sanctions against Newcastle, whose ownership model is also in the spotlight, after a controversial takeover last October by a coalition led by the Saudi Investment Fund.
Human rights group Amnesty International has raised concerns about the purchase, saying it was an attempt to “sport whitewash” of the Gulf kingdom’s human rights record.
Reflecting the intense focus on off-field issues, Newcastle coach Eddie Howe was forced to answer questions after the Chelsea game about dozens of executions in Saudi Arabia rather than talk about the match.
Newcastle hopes to follow in the footsteps of Emirati-owned Manchester City, which became the dominant force in the Premier League over the past decade on the back of huge investments.
Nevertheless, the UAE’s decision to abstain from voting on a UN Security Council resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the recent meeting between club owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, have led to a renewed focus on City.
British opposition Labor MP Chris Bryant said it would be “good to see the departure” of Sheikh Mansour as the club’s owner, as the government criticized his meeting with Assad, saying it undermined prospects for a lasting peace in Syria.
Sports business expert Simon Chadwick told AFP that despite concerns about the funding sources of Premier League clubs, it is difficult to expect meaningful change in the short term, as billionaires from around the world line up to buy Chelsea.
“European football can wean itself from the money of Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, but what is left? If they leave, who will replace them?”
“If we take the example of Chelsea, one of the options to replace the Russian (Abramovich) is a consortium of American and Swiss billionaires, so for British football fans, the situation will not change.”
turning point?
The British government acknowledges the need to make an amendment, publishing a fan-led review of sports governance in November.
Recommendations include the creation of a new independent regulator for English football and tests for new owners and managers to ensure “only good custodians” can run clubs.
The League’s chief executive, Richard Masters, said earlier this month that the examination of club owners and managers in the league was under review, amid a demand from Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston that it should be “more robust”.
Huddleston told a panel of lawmakers last week that he believed the English game was at a “turning point”.
“The fan-led review is pivotally important,” he added, with the government awaiting a full response in the coming weeks. “We recognize that there are failings in the structure and governance of English football.”
These questions about ownership and sponsorship models are not unique to the Premier League.
Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain is close to achieving its eighth French Ligue 1 title in ten years, while the Spanish Football Federation has been criticized for transferring the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.
In Germany, Schalke 04 cut ties with the state-owned Russian gas giant Gazprom, but Bayern Munich stuck to a sponsorship deal with Qatar despite the fan uprising that disrupted the club’s annual general meeting in November.
Clubs and the Premier League are under fire for apparently neglecting research questions about the source of their money in the hunt for titles in a fiercely competitive industry.
Chelsea finds itself caught up in geopolitical currents that extend far beyond football, but it remains to be seen whether the sport has the appetite for radical change.
© 2022 AFP