Newcastle co-owner on Roman Abramovich selling Chelsea: 'I do not think that is particularly fair'
Russian oligarch Abramovich said he would sell Chelsea FC amid war with Ukraine
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley came to the defense of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich on Thursday, saying the Russian oligarch had been treated unfairly.
Abramovich, who took over as club owner in 2003, came under pressure over the last two weeks to sell the team over his ties to the Kremlin. He announced earlier this week he would do so and donate the proceeds of the sale to the victims of the Ukraine war.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Amanda Staveley, chief executive officer of PCP Capital Partners, and husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi look on prior to the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Manchester United at St James' Park on Dec. 27, 2021, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Staveley said she didn’t think it was "particularly fair" for Abramovich to give up the club.
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"We are always going to have geopolitical issues," she said at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit, via Sky Sports. "This world is never going to not have problems, and I know it is really hard, and I am really sad today that someone [ Abramovich] is going to have a football club taken away because of a relationship they may have with someone [Russia President Vladimir Putin]. I do not think that is particularly fair, actually, to be honest."
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Chief Executive Officer of PCP Capital Partners Amanda Staveley poses for a photograph during an interview at St. James Park on Nov. 10, 2021, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
Staveley’s takeover of Newcastle in 2021 had been backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. She mentioned the relationship some of the clubs in the English Premier League have with the country, which has been criticized for its own human rights issues.
"But I also think that we have to hold all of our relationships to account. And I think that we have also got to remember with Saudi [Arabia] that it is an incredibly big, important country that I love. I love the people there. It is a young, vibrant population, and I have seen Saudi [Arabia] change so much.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"And I am not talking now as [from a perspective of] Newcastle, I am talking as me. So these are my thoughts because I have really got to know a lot of people, and I am excited that... I would rather everybody look and get excited about football than being involved in war."
Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich sits in his box before its English Premier League soccer match against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Dec. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
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Abramovich has yet to be sanctioned over his relationship with Russia.