AMNESTY CRITICISM: DON’T ALLOW HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS TO WALK INTO FOOTBALL JUST BECAUSE THEY HAVE DEEP POCKETS

AMNESTY have called on the Premier League to tighten their ownership rules – as the Saudi takeover of Newcastle attracted strong criticism.

Campaigners believe the state-run Public Investment Fund should not be allowed to buy the club because of the nation’s human rights record.

Saudi officials have been accused by the CIA of being involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (above).

According to campaigners, Saudi is among the world’s most prominent executioners, with 40 people a year killed, some beheaded, while there is religious discrimination and women are discriminated against.

Amnesty chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said: “We’ve sent the Premier League a suggested new human rights-compliant test and we reiterate our call on them to overhaul their standards on this.

“As with Formula One, elite boxing, golf or tennis, an association with top-tier football is a very attractive means of rebranding a country or person with a tarnished reputation.

“The Premier League needs to better understand the dynamic of sportswashing and tighten its ownership rules.

“Instead of allowing those implicated in serious human rights violations to walk into English football simply because they have deep pockets, we’ve urged the Premier League to change their owners and directors test to address human rights issues.

“The phrase ‘human rights’ doesn’t even appear in the owners and directors test, despite English football supposedly adhering to FIFA standards.”

Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of Khashoggi, killed and dismembered in the Saudi embassy in Turkey in October 2018, said she was horrified at the takeover.

She said: “It is horrifying to learn that the Crown Prince is on the brink of getting what he wants, to wash his reputation and sully the name of sports.

“I urge the Premier League not to cave in as this is the moment to show courage and principle. It will show the killers they cannot wash away their crimes.”