Sky News has learnt that the 20 club chairmen voted unanimously to approve changes to the Premier League's Owners and Directors Test at its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. The move will have the effect of enhancing the League's ability to block new owners in a bid to preserve the integrity of the competition, which is watched by billions of people globally every season. A source said that the chairmen had voted to give the Premier League "the power to impose such conditions as it sees fit in order to ensure compliance with PL Rules on finance, Owners and Directors Test, disclosure of ownership issues and associations and influence". New "disqualifying events" in relation to the ownership test would include a failure to provide all relevant information, or the provision of false, misleading or inaccurate information about a prospective new owner's finances, according to the source. For the first time, the Premier League's rules will also allow it to block a new owner where they have "engaged in conduct outside the UK that would constitute an offence… if such conduct had taken place in the UK, whether or not such conduct resulted in a conviction". Sources told Sky News last month that that amendment to the rule book had been partly inspired by a move by Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng to take control of Southampton FC in a deal reported to be worth £200m. http://news.sky.com/story/premier-league-bosses-approve-tougher-club-ownership-rules-10908980
