Unfortunate
Amanda Staveley ‘sad’ for Roman Abramovich having to sell and reveals Newcastle owners had ‘opportunity to look at Chelsea’ before buying Premier League club
Amanda Staveley has expressed her 'sadness' for Roman Abramovich, with the Newcastle co-owner saying she 'doesn't think it's particularly fair' he has to sell Chelsea.
The decision by Abramovich to put the London club up for sale comes amid possible sanctions he could face by the UK government, due to reported links with Russian president Vladimir Putin, who the billionaire has denied he has any kind of relationship with.
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Speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit, Toon chief Staveley gave her views on Abramovich's situation as she discussed the risks surrounding overseas investment in football clubs.
Staveley fronted the recent takeover by Newcastle, which is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
"We're always going to have geopolitical issues," she said.
"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."
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For the first time in 19 years, Chelsea will need to find a new owner, and Staveley added the Blues were a possible option for her and her partners.
"One great thing about taking four years to buy Newcastle is we had a great opportunity to look at every club, including Chelsea," she said.
"Chelsea is a wonderful club, but there was only one club for us and will only ever be one club for us.
"We like the challenge of buying a club at 20th position [in the Premier League] and getting it to the top."
Under manager Eddie Howe, Newcastle are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League games.
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