Newcastle takeover live: breaking news with Saudi-led consortium set to close deal for Premier League club

You are not the only one who gets up early and early.

Athleticism George Caulkin was on his morning run around St James’ Park.

Hello,

Welcome to our live coverage of the potential takeover of Newcastle United.

It has been a whirlwind for the past 24 hours. We will keep you updated with the latest news, including information from Athleticism Newcastle journalists George Caulkin and Chris Waugh.

A vision for the future, new hires, a training ground and Steve Bruce’s future … all of the issues that potential new owners face in Tyneside.

Written in 2020, the words below still ring true today.

At times like this, I guess you have to …

… of our man George Caulkin.

In 2018, Qatar filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) claiming that Saudi Arabia was preventing beIN – a Qatari company – from broadcasting in the kingdom.

The beIN company subsequently launched an international investment arbitration against Saudi Arabia for damages totaling more than $ 1 billion.

Qatar has also accused Saudi Arabia of failing to take effective action against alleged piracy of beIN content by beoutQ, a pirate broadcaster.

Saudi Arabia’s decision to revoke its ban on beIN Sport will result in the beoutQ operation being deactivated. The international investment arbitration of beIN Sport will also come to an end.

Saudi Arabia has also pledged to remove all pirate websites when notified by beIN.

Last year, the WTO ruled that Saudi Arabia helped break international piracy laws in connection with beoutQ. Saudi Arabia has previously denied aiding in Operation beoutQ and insisted that there was no link between its government and the alleged hack.

Newcastle have made another disappointing start to their Premier League campaign and remain winless after their opening eight games of the 2021-22 season.

This has left head coach Steve Bruce firmly in the crosshairs with 94.3% of the more than 5,000 respondents to a poll conducted by the Newcastle United Supporters Trust calling for his resignation.

Last summer, the consortium trying to buy Newcastle United were set to issue an explosive statement. After 16 weeks of inertia, with the Premier League sifting through its test of owners and managers, club fans simmering and worrying, the gloves would come off. “Enough is enough,” they would say; enough time, enough waiting. Make your decision.

At the time of the statement, less than 48 hours later, the Premier League had no further decisions to make. It had been taken for them, ending the most controversial and tiresome takeover in the division’s history. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media have announced their withdrawal from the process “with regret”.

So how did we come to this? And what has changed?

Over a period of several months in 2020, Athleticism spoke to colleagues, peers, rivals, staff and fans of the Newcastle owner, a man who bought the club in 2007 without doing due diligence and with the self-proclaimed ambition to ‘have fun a little “.

Ashley loves to play, but the fun stopped a long time ago.

beIN Sports has been one of the recovery’s biggest opponents. Network chief executive Yousef al-Obaidly wrote to top club presidents last year about the deal, urging them to “fully question” the consortium.

In the letter, Al-Obaidly accused the Saudi government of “facilitating the nearly three-year theft of the Premier League’s commercial rights – and your club’s commercial income – through its support for the large-scale pirate service beoutQ” .

Thus, a thaw in relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia on this issue therefore removes a major obstacle that helped prevent the takeover from taking place.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF), established in 1971, is Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

It has an estimated total asset value of around $ 500 billion.

PIF has stakes in Live Nation, Boeing, Facebook, Citigroup, Disney and Bank of America, oil company BP and Uber.

The organization is chaired by Mohammad bin Salman, with Yashir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan as governor.

A recent poll by the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) found that 93.8% of its members were in favor of the takeover, but Saudi Arabia’s participation in the offer raises important questions about the takeover. geopolitics, sport and human rights.

The deal has been criticized because of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, while Amnesty International has previously warned the Premier League against becoming a “patsy” for Saudi attempts to clean up its country. picture.

The fiancee of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi has also urged the Premier League to block the Saudi takeover.

Amanda Staveley is a British businesswoman with close ties to the Middle East.

She played a leading role in the reigning families of Abu Dhabi and Qatar, making a £ 7.3 billion investment in Barclays in 2008. PCP Capital Partners, her firm, represented Sheikh Mansour of the Abu Dhabi royal family.

Staveley was also involved in his Manchester City takeover in the same year.

The announcement on Wednesday that beIN Sport, the official Premier League broadcaster in the Middle East, will no longer be barred from operating in the kingdom means the buyout is about to be finalized.

Saudi Arabia today reversed its decision to ban beIN Sport – the official Premier League broadcaster in the Middle East – from operating in the country.

And beIN later said the ban had been its “singular objection” to the club’s takeover from the Premier League.