Fulham may currently be propping up the Premier League after a difficult start to the season, but the west London club has emerged top of the pile after an ethical audit of top-flight sides.
Aston Villa secured the runners-up spot in the table, which ranked clubs against a series of ethical metrics including ownership, sponsors, employment practices and fan involvement, as well as their tax status. Struggling at the foot of the table were Manchester City and Wolves.
While the research found that most clubs were “well run and had a strong presence in their local community”, the audit highlighted that the Premier League remains devoid of fan representation at board level.
The review, conducted by the Fifa Ethics and Regulations Watch group, which campaigns for stronger ethics in sport, measured the current 20 Premier League sides against 12 ethical criteria. Eleven of the categories awarded a score out of 10. The group also examined impact on the environment, rating a club’s green credentials out of 25.
Fulham emerged as the league’s most ethical side with a score of 115, a single point better than Aston Villa, who were docked a mark for co-owner Wes Edens’ historical links to US subprime mortgage lender Nationstar.
Languishing at the bottom of the table were Man City on just 20 points, with Wolves a place above them on 57 points. Man City lost points because of its “strong links to the regime and rulers of Abu Dhabi”. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a senior son in Abu Dhabi’s ruling dynasty, bought the club in 2008 and his investment company has a majority stake in the vehicle that owns the club.
The report judged that the club’s connections to the regime meant it scored low for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ issues, religious and political rights, as well as losing points in the environmental category for its sponsorship by the Etihad airline.
In terms of tax, the report docked points from Wolves, whose Chinese owners are registered in Hong Kong, and Manchester United, domiciled in the Cayman Islands. All but one of the Premier League’s clubs, Sheffield United, were sponsored by at least one alcohol or betting company.
Arsenal scored 95 points, marked down for links to alcohol and gambling companies.
Their north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur were behind them on 91 points. They lost marks for announcing that 550 employees would take a 20% pay cut during the Covid crisis – a decision the club later reversed. Defending champions Liverpool scored a healthy 105 points.
Anna De Bacci, a spokeswoman for Fifa Ethics and Regulations Watch, said: “We hope that this ethical league table stimulates debate and discussion about how England’s top-flight clubs are run.
“As we have clearly identified there are some issues around a small minority of clubs, which is why we call on the Premier League to urgently review and strengthen its fit and proper test alongside increasing the representation of fans at all levels of the game, including at board level.”
Manchester City and Wolves were both contacted for comment, but neither had responded by the time of publication.
Ethical Premier League Table
Fulham 115
Aston Villa 114
Burnley 112
Brighton 110
Crystal Palace 110
Everton 110
Leicester City 105
Liverpool 105
Chelsea 100
West Brom 100
Leeds United 96
Arsenal 95
West Ham 92
Tottenham 91
Newcastle 90
Southampton 90
Manchester United 85
Sheffield United 60
Wolves 57
Manchester City 20
