A member of the Qatar royal family, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, is fronting one of the groups seeking to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family.
Qatar, which hosted the 2022 World Cup, has faced criticism for its treatment of foreign workers, a ban on homosexuality and curbs on political expression.
The Premier League said the new ‘disqualifying event’ for human rights abuses was based on the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020.
It said the threshold for what constitutes control of a club would be lowered from 30 per cent to 25 per cent and chief executives will be brought within the scope of the test along with a new concept of “relevant signatories”.
New disqualifying events include individuals and/or companies subject to government sanctions.
The list of criminal offences resulting in disqualification has been extended to cover violence, corruption, fraud, tax evasion and hate crimes.
The scope of insolvency provisions was also broadened to enable the league to take action against individuals “involved in previous insolvencies in a wider range of circumstances”.
The Premier League promised greater clarity and transparency, introducing also a new power “to stop those who wish to become directors where they are under investigation for conduct that would result in a disqualifying event if proven”.
