Newcastle United: Premier League agrees to meet Amnesty International
- Published
Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley speaks to BBC Sports Editor Dan Roan on day Saudi takeover was completed
The Premier League has agreed to meet with Amnesty International for talks about a revised owners' and directors' test following Newcastle's Saudi-backed takeover.
Amnesty wrote to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters after the takeover took place three weeks ago asking for rules to include human rights violations.
It has previously highlighted how Saudi Arabia has an "appalling" record on the issue and says the rules on club ownership are "woefully inadequate".
But the Premier League says it has "legally-binding assurances" that the country's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has an 80% control of the club, not the Saudi state, despite Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also being chair of PIF.
It is understood that the Premier League is willing to listen Amnesty's concerns and will conduct a review of its owners' and directors' test as it often does after a takeover.
The test assesses whether any criminal activity has taken place by prospective owners, but currently does not specifically mention human rights allegations within that.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK's interim chief executive, said: "We're obviously pleased that the Premier League is willing to talk about these proposals as a starting point for what we hope will be a process that leads to considerable strengthening of the rules on football governance.
"The current rules concerning who owns and runs English football clubs are woefully inadequate, with no bar on ownership for those complicit in acts of torture, slavery, human trafficking or even war crimes.
"We're keen to discuss with Richard Masters our ideas for a human rights-compliant Owners' and Directors' test which can help weed out unsuitable owners complicit in human rights violations, as well as reducing sportswashing and generally improving governance within the game."
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