Amanda Staveley: Newcastle co-owner says unfair Chelsea's Roman Abramovich has to sell

Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley says she «doesn't think it's particularly fair» that Roman Abramovich has decided to sell Chelsea following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Chelsea have won 17 major trophies since Russian billionaire Abramovich bought the club in 2003, but he announced on Wednesday that he was planning to sell.

Abramovich, 55, has faced calls from politicians for him to be sanctioned as he is alleged to have strong ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, which he has denied.

Staveley, speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit, also faced questions about Newcastle's relationship with Saudi Arabia, following the club's Saudi-backed takeover.

She said: «We're always going to have geopolitical issues.

»I'm really sad that someone is going to have a football club taken away because of a relationship he may have with someone.

«I don't think that's particularly fair to be honest. But we do have to hold all of our relationships to account.»

Staveley reiterated that the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which owns 80% of Newcastle, was «separate» from the Saudi state, which has been accused of human rights abuses.

October's £305m takeover was subject to Newcastle providing «legally binding assurances» to the Premier League that the state would not control the club.

«We should always be held to task,» she added. «One thing we showed when doing the Premier League [ownership] test was that there was that separation. We and the PIF run the club with autonomy.»

Staveley, who owns 10% of Newcastle shares but admitted in High Court documents to borrowing £30.5m from fellow co-owners the Reuben brothers, also said she had looked at buying Chelsea before setting up a consortium to buy Newcastle.

«One great thing