A Worcestershire MP has called for a “more robust” approach from the Premier League regarding its owners' test.

This comes as the UK Government and Premier League sanctioned Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sports Minister and Mid Worcestershire MP Nigel Huddleston has been pleased with the sporting sanctions imposed on Russia but has urged the Premier League to review the way it assesses potential owners.

He told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee: “We recognise there is a need for further refinement and more robust owners’ and directors’ tests and the integrity element of that is something that is being pushed.”

Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale on March 2, pledging to write off the Blues’ £1.5billion debt and divert all proceed to a new foundation to benefit victims of the war in Ukraine.

Mr Huddleston added: “Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned and he has been sanctioned for a reason, because he has links to Vladimir Putin.

“We are working with Chelsea and the fans that the measures we have put in place primarily impact Roman Abramovich and make sure he does not benefit, whilst making sure that where possible we can reduce the impact on the fans and make sure Chelsea can still continue.

“Can the Government allow an entity to fail? Yes it can, whether it’s sport or football or anything else, but what we want to do is make sure the impact of sanctions hits those we want.”

Evesham Journal: MP Huddleston has said sports does not need Russian investment to thriveMP Huddleston has said sports does not need Russian investment to thrive

Mr Huddleston continued, stating that he is happy to see Russia removed from world sport and does not expect the country to return any time soon.

He said: “There’s a lot of money in sport and a lot of money in football and I think we can manage perfectly well without Russian investment overall. There’s plenty of other investors around the world who we can work with.

“I really cannot see circumstances for quite a long period of time where we’re going to welcome that money back, I genuinely can’t.

“I don’t think it would be morally acceptable, it may in many cases not be legally possible because we’ll still have considerable sanctions imposed on many entities and I don’t think fans around the world, and in particular in this country, would find that acceptable either.

“The reasons these sporting sanctions matter is precisely because Putin loves nothing better than wrapping himself in the flag and putting himself on the world stage.

“I think it’s going to be quite a while before we accept Russia back onto the world sporting stage.”