Do you agree with the application of the fit and proper rule such that Americans who have expressed anti-Muslim views should be prohibited from buying Chelsea? (This is a debate over one of the bidders).
I don't. Thin edge of the wedge. It's like banning free speech for racists or views the mainstream finds offensive. Soon it will be you next if you are not mainstream. The mainstream moves.
It was one thing frowning on views you don't like. We all shout at the TV. It is another to marginalise groups. This is creeping fascism under a liberal guise. That's how it's done.
You can see the consequences of this political correctness right now. Imposing restrictions based on your nationality and beliefs. That is the authoritarian rule that Britain condemns China for.
It's all very Orwellian, but it's more than just policing language. Abramovich's assets are frozen because of his links with Putin, next thing you know the liberal left are talking about the Blues and the Geordies! But Chelsea's situation is completely different from City's and Newcastle's! Where's the connection?
It's the fit and proper person test.
But that's designed to prevent folk buying football clubs with dodgy money or running them down for their own gain, or because they're useless, or criminals, or never had the funds to run the club in the first place. No one could accuse Abramovich of that (deemed dodgy now but not dodgy then) and certainly not the owners of City and Newcastle.
No problem, the liberal left just reinterprets the fit and proper person test, but how do you get away with that? Football clubs are a business, only business criteria should apply. No problem, the liberal left reinterprets what a football club is, it's not a business it's a "community asset" so normal business rules don't apply!
But hang on!
Community assets are defined as buildings or other land which are mainly in actual use for the social, well-being or social interests of the local community. Examples of community assets may include: emergency medical services, nursing or adult care homes, mental health facilities, community health centres, health clinics, home health and hospice care, school health services, medical and health transportation, dental care providers, homeless health projects, free clinics and pharmacies, recreational facilities and fitness centres, pharmacy services, ancillary services (X-ray, laboratory), voluntary/private medical facilities, substance and alcohol abuse services, medical and health equipment suppliers, dialysis centres, chiropractic services, and child care.
Not a professional football club in sight.
So who's reinterpreting a community asset to shoehorn in a professional football club? And who writes the rules for these football community assets?
No problem....
The Guardian, Gary Neville, The Athletic, American owners, Simon Jordan, the BBC, Chris Bryant, a dodgy whatsapp group, an odd assortment of jobbing scribblers stuck in student politics, When Saturday Comes, rival fans, Sky Sports and anyone who eats lettuce.
