Premier League announces changes to owners and directors test amid bids to buy Manchester United

Premier League owners face disqualification for human rights abuses under changes to the Owners' and Directors' Test (OADT).

The Premier League announced clubs had "unanimously approved" the proposed changes at a shareholders' meeting on Thursday.

Among the disqualifying events added are individuals and companies subject to government sanctions and human rights abuses based on the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations of 2020.

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The former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had to sell the club last year after it emerged he had supplied steel to the Russian military to produce tanks for their war in Ukraine. Abramovich has never condemned Russia's invasion.

The Premier League's announcement comes after Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe submitted bids to buy Manchester United as the Glazer family consider the possibility of ending their 18-year ownership.

Sheikh Jassim hails from Qatar, which has been widely criticised for its human rights record. Homosexuality is still outlawed in the Gulf state.

Manchester City were taken over by the Abu Dhabi Group in 2008 while the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia took control of Newcastle in 2021.

On Monday, the Premier League chief executive Richard Masters refused to confirm whether the organisation is investigating Newcastle's Saudi ownership after documents submitted to a US court on behalf of the PIF said it should be considered a "foreign state".

The Premier League allowed the takeover to proceed on the assurance the "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle".

City were charged with more than 100 alleged breaches of its