Some did so again on Sunday, though the vast majority refrained from feting the man whose wealth had bought them so much success. They had chanted Abramovich’s name during a moment of silence for the victims of war in Ukraine during a game earlier this month, and then did so again at Norwich on Thursday night, only hours after the sanctions against him - and Chelsea - were announced. “I don’t want to point the finger,” he said. Comparing Newcastle and Chelsea, he said, would not change the situation Chelsea finds itself in. Likewise, Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel did his best to steer away from politics. On Sunday, a few of their number strolled into Stamford Bridge taunting their rivals and singing, “We’re richer than you.”Īfter the match, Newcastle’s manager, Eddie Howe, shut down any questions related to his ownership’s human rights record, including the executions on Saturday and Saudi Arabia’s ongoing war in neighboring Yemen. ![]() Newcastle had fans dancing in the streets in October to celebrate the sale to Saudi Arabian interests, hoping the kingdom’s wealth could quickly push the club back up the standings alongside rivals like Chelsea. On the same day, Saudi Arabia confirmed that it had put to death 81 people, the kingdom’s largest mass execution in years.Īmong the thousands who had turned up to see their favorite teams, though, there was little talk of sanctions and death sentences. On Saturday, the league, which had allowed arms dealers and human rights abusers to own teams, disqualified an owner for the first time, ruling that Abramovich - despite his 19 years as an owner - no longer had the right to serve as a club director. In the months since, the volume of questions about Saudi human rights abuses and its own war against a neighbor has grown only louder.įrom a Premier League perspective, then, the timing of the Chelsea-Newcastle matchup - a collision of its two most pressing public relations concerns - could not have been worse. ![]() Only a few months ago, the Premier League had approved the sale of Newcastle - over the opposition of human rights groups - to a group led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Sunday’s guest, Newcastle United, arrived with its own baggage. Putin, were hardly a secret - be allowed to enjoy the trappings of fame and popularity associated with owning one of its clubs, a rare sporting asset of global significance, for so long? Among them: How could a figure like Abramovich - whose links to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. The Premier League, meanwhile, was facing its own hard questions.
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