The English Premier League has rarely had qualms about allowing its most prized assets, the 20 soccer clubs which contest each season, to fall under the ownership of rather questionable individuals.

Indeed, judged by some of those in its top ranks, the Premier League might credibly be described as a cesspool for the democratic rule of law. Many owners gained their wealth through corruption or mafia-style manipulation. And many source their power from close connections to some of the world's most authoritarian regimes.

A debate is now raging as to whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's investment fund should be able to buy Newcastle United F.C. The fiancee of Jamal Khashoggi, the writer who was killed on the crown prince's orders, says the sale shouldn't go ahead.

I say, why not?

Sure, Crown Prince Mohammed isn't a great guy. But compared against the league's existing owner base, he's hardly the worst of the bunch. Just consider how pristine some of the other billionaire owners are.

Chelsea is owned by Roman Abramovich, a close friend and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a man who made his wealth using crony connections to buy up former Soviet state industries at massively undervalued prices. Abramovich is under U.S. sanctions, but he continues to find British favor thanks to the high influence of Russian money in British politics.

Aston Villa is owned by Nassef Sawiris, the son of Onsi Sawiris, whose wealth flows, in significant part, from his family's access to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's cronyist economy. Under Mubarak, a few Egyptian families were able to consolidate power over certain industries.

Everton's owner, Farhad Moshiri, is a close partner of Alisher Usmanov. That's interesting because Usmanov was a part-owner of Arsenal until 2018. Usmanov is a corrupt oligarch who, figuratively and literally, likes to bury the truth.

Manchester City is owned by Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates's royal family. The UAE is a close Saudi ally, with a slightly-better-than-Qatar (which definitely won the World Cup 2022 hosting rights fairly) reputation for treating migrants workers. Similarly, Sheffield United is owned by Abdullah bin Musa'ad bin Abdul Aziz of the Saudi royal family.

Southampton is owned by Gao Jisheng, a Chinese billionaire who previously served in the People's Liberation Army and as a Communist Party official. Wolverhampton Wanderers is owned by Fosun International, a Chinese investment group. Fosun's owners are Beijing loyalists, co-opted by pressure from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Perhaps it would have been easier to list the Premier League clubs without corrupt ownership.

Of course, a lot of this isn't well known in the United Kingdom. That's because the aforementioned gems of humanity are all too happy to use Britain's totally insane defamation law to prevent scrutiny over their lives.

But as I say, if the Premier League wants to take a stand with the Saudi crown prince, it's a little late to its own party.