UK Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston says football “can function perfectly well without Russian investment”.
The comments were made in a session on Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the role of Russian money in both ownership and sponsorship of clubs.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK due to ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There are plenty of other investors around the world that we can work with,” Huddleston said.
“Globally, there is a lot of money in sport and in football and we can get along perfectly well without Russian investment or without Russian investment in general.
“I really can’t see the circumstances over a fairly long period of time where we’re going to get that money back, I really can’t.”
“I don’t think it’s morally acceptable, it may not be legally possible in many cases because we will still have considerable penalties imposed on many entities.
“I don’t think sports fans around the world and in this country in particular find it acceptable either. They’ve spoken very loud and clear.”
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Abramovich had his British assets, including Chelsea, frozen as part of the UK government’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A special license issued by the government will allow club matches to be played, staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches.
Russian soccer clubs and national teams have been banned from all competitions by world governing body FIFA and its European counterpart Uefa, among other sporting sanctions.
“As for the duration of those sanctions, as long as Russia remains a pariah on the world stage, those sanctions will last,” Huddleston said. “No one knows, but the person who is in control of that is Vladimir Putin.
“They will last for some time and, including Russia being unable to bid for major sporting events, it will be quite some time before we accept Russia back on the world sporting stage.”
a recent Saudi Arabia-backed takeover of Newcastle United has also given rise to controversy.
There are concerns about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and Magpies manager Eddie Howe was questioned on the issue following his side’s Premier League defeat to Chelsea on Sunday.
The issue of club ownership, among other issues, was looked at as part of a fan-led review of English football commissioned by the government.
Former sports minister Tracey Crouch, chair of the fan-led review, proposed a series of measures including an independent regulator to “protect the future of our game.”
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters also said the organization is reviewing the proof of its owners and directors as it had “been under a lot of scrutiny for the last 12 months”.
“We are at a turning point in English football,” Huddleston said. “Fan-led review is vitally important. We recognize there are flaws in the structure and governance of English football.
“If everything had worked perfectly, we would never have needed the fan-driven review.
“The fan-led review will be critical because it will include an independent regulator, which is a fundamental change to the structure and ecosystem of English football. It will include more information and measures around the testing of owners and directors so that in itself it says a lot”.
He added: “We should and expect football to recognize where the problems exist and, where possible, solve them on its own without the government having to step in and care and legislate to the umpteenth degree of detail.
“The fans expect and require that too. I still expect football to take its share of responsibilities. If it doesn’t act, we will legislate.”
“I can’t say more now [about the response to the fan-led review] apart from the fact that there will be a regulator and we will be looking at the owners and directors test.”
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