Amnesty concerned by reports of Qatar bid for Manchester United

Reports of an imminent Qatari bid for Manchester United should be a "wake-up call" to the Premier League to strengthen its ownership rules, Amnesty International has warned.

The Daily Mail has reported that private investors from the Gulf state which hosted last year's World Cup are keen to buy United, with an apparent £6 billion price-tag not putting them off.

Human rights group Amnesty says any purchase would be a continuation of Qatar's attempts to sportswash its image, citing limited reforms on improving conditions for migrant workers and no signs at all that it will decriminalise same-sex relationships.

"Coming in the wake of the World Cup and strenuous efforts from the Qatari government to fashion a glitzy new image for the country, it seems highly likely that any Qatari bid for Manchester United would be a continuation of this state-backed sportswashing project," Peter Frankental, Amnesty UK's economic affairs director, told the PA news agency.

"We saw only limited reforms on migrant workers' rights in Qatar in the lead-up to the World Cup, and there's been no movement whatsoever in ending the disgraceful criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people or institutional discrimination against women.

"It's been nearly 18 months since the hugely controversial Saudi takeover of Newcastle United and a Qatari bid for Manchester United would be yet another wake-up call to the Premier League over the need to reform its ownership rules.

"We're not necessarily opposed to the involvement of state-linked overseas financial consortia in English football, but the Premier League must urgently strengthen ownership rules to ensure they're human rights-compliant and not an opportunity for more sports-washing."

The Mail reports that Qatari investors will