Roy Keane has called the Premier League’s fit and proper person test ‘a waste of time’ amid recent backlash over Newcastle United’s owners. Sanctions enforced by the UK Government on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich for his alleged association with Vladimir Putin placed the Magpies’ controversial regime back under the microscope.
Eddie Howe was criticised for refusing to answer questions on the club’s Saudi-backed regime following the 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge earlier this month - the first Chelsea game since Abramovich was sanctioned. The Toon boss said: "I'm a football manager, and I'm coaching the team to try and get results. That is all I'm going to comment on."
Now, Manchester United legend Keane has defended supporters - who have often been drawn into debates far beyond the remit of a football fan - while also taking a swipe at the Premier League for their owners’ and directors’ test. Speaking on the Overlap, he said: “Is that for fans to worry about or is that for the government to sort out? So the fans know (when a takeover happens) it’s obviously been looked at.
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“These fit proper tests that used to go on years ago were obviously a waste of time. The man in the street, what most supporters are, are going ‘I want to know who these people are before somebody comes into the club’, and then we can enjoy it instead of the politics reaching all the fans. We just want to go and enjoy the football.”
Fellow Overlap panelist Gary Neville believes Newcastle United’s controversial Saudi-backed takeover may be the last of its kind in the Premier League. Debate has heightened regarding the top-flight’s owners’ and directors’ test, with the Magpies’ structure coming under scrutiny before, during and after the completion of the £300million deal in October.
Neville called for an independent regulator to enter English football in the aftermath of the European Super League fiasco - a body he still believes needs introduced. The Manchester United legend thinks fan discontent has reached such a level that a Newcastle-style takeover will be impossible in the future.
“We’ve now got a huge issue emerging where football clubs are being bought by wealth from rogue states," Neville said. "These social, geopolitical issues that exist in society, football is not going to be able to ignore anymore because it is on its doorstep. I think it's gonna be a lot harder to get into English football in the future.
“It isn’t just about Chelsea anymore. It's a wider point now around football ownership in this country. Off what's happened at Chelsea, there are going to be a lot more questions asked in the future and higher hurdles are going to have to be met.
“Most of Tuchel’s press conferences in the next five weeks are going to be about things not to do with football. Man City will get asked more questions, Eddie Howe will get pushed like you wouldn't believe… it's going to happen now because people have recognised there was a real clear, present danger and association with where the money comes from, what are the intentions of the owners were buying in? What are they doing with it?
“That’s something where the FA (and) the Premier League are going to have to act quickly and that comes with an independent regulator.”
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