Terry criticized for praising Abramovich
Terry tweeted a photo of the pair holding the Premier League trophy with the caption “The Best” and three blue hearts.
A Labour MP Chris Bryant, the Labour has criticised John Terry, the former Chelsea captain, for a social-media post praising Abramovich.
Terry tweeted a photo of the pair holding the Premier League trophy with the caption “The Best” and three blue hearts.
Bryant asked the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries: “I wonder whether she would condemn John Terry today. I don’t know whether she’s seen this but he has posted today a photo of himself with Roman Abramovich, who is one of Putin’s cronies.
“What will the people of Ukraine think of the former England football captain?”
Dorries praised Bryant for his work on raising matters connected to Russia and appeared to suggest that Abramovich should face UK sanctions. “In football, we have tolerated the investment of Russian kleptocrats for far too long,” Dorries said.
“I think that we have reached a turning point. We need to make sure that football clubs remain viable.”
The Premier League is being urged to tighten its Owners’ and Directors’ Test by Amnesty International, the human rights’ organisation, after the controversy surrounding Abramovich and the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle United last year.
“Roman Abramovich is not the only mega-rich owner of an English Premier League club with personal and business connections to an overseas authoritarian leader, and we fully expect that his departure from Chelsea will reignite the debate around the Premier League Owners’ and Directors’ test,” Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said.
“In light of Saudi Arabia’s hugely controversial takeover of Newcastle United, we’ve been calling for the Premier League to introduce a new, properly human rights-compliant element to its test.
“In an era of global sports washing and with the horror of what is currently unfolding in Ukraine, the Premier League has a clear moral responsibility to change its ownership rules to put a stop to top-flight English football being used as a PR vehicle for those complicit in serious human rights violations.”
