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Post by rugbytoffee on Oct 6, 2021 16:13:00 GMT
The Saudi Arabian-backed takeover of Newcastle United has potentially moved a step closer after the country resolved its TV piracy dispute with Qatar broadcaster beIN Sports.
The kingdom is set to lift its four-and-a-half year ban on showing beIN Sports and will cease to show Premier League and other football matches via pirate station beoutQ.
The issue has been part of a dispute between Newcastle and the Premier League over a £300m takeover which collapsed in the summer of 2020.
That centred on whether the Saudi owners would pass the league's owners' and directors' test, which measures the suitability of owners at a club.
It was believed that arbitration set for 3 January would debate whether the Saudi state would effectively sit on the Newcastle board and therefore be tested on alleged human rights abuses.
But an end to TV piracy breaches, which would break Premier League rules, could lead to a breakthrough. ast year the Premier League was urged by beIN Sport - one of its largest overseas broadcast partners - to "fully interrogate" Newcastle United's proposed £300m takeover by a Saudi-backed consortium because of alleged piracy of its TV rights.
The Saudi government always denied wrongdoing, but this apparent ending of the dispute with the Qatar TV giant appears to resolve a major obstacle to the hugely controversial deal for the club from happening.
But other issues remain.
There is still significant concern over Saudi Arabia's human-rights record.
And then there's the question of who would actually run Newcastle Utd if the deal was approved.
Ultimately, the Premier League failed to give the takeover the green light after its lawyers could not clarify the links between sovereign wealth fund PIF (which would have owned most of Newcastle United) and the Saudi state.
The Premier League was concerned that individuals not on the club's new board would have had influence over decision-making at St James' Park - not least because the Saudi Crown Prince is also the chairman of PIF.
Sources close to the consortium said they tried to prove to the Premier League that the Saudi government would have no say in the day-to-day running of the club, and it appears they will still need to do so for a deal to be salvaged. The issue of TV privacy breaches was the subject of a World Trade Organisation report in June 2020, which said Saudi Arabia helped break international piracy laws.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters also said in a letter in August 2020 that intellectual property rights were "critically important to the league's commercial interests".
BeIN Sports' link to the takeover was raised in Newcastle's Competition Appeal Tribunal last week where it was alleged by lawyers that the Qatari broadcaster had "improperly influenced" the Premier League into blocking the takeover based on its deal to show matches.
The claims came from Daniel Jowell QC, who was acting on behalf of St James Holdings, which wholly own shares for Newcastle and is also owned by club boss Mike Ashley.
A decision on that hearing is yet to be announced.
BeIN Sports is currently in the middle of a £400m deal to show Premier League games in the Middle East and North Africa region over three years.
The Premier League has declined to comment.
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Post by rugbytoffee on Oct 7, 2021 18:19:12 GMT
The £300m takeover of Newcastle United has officially been completed, with a Saudi-led consortium ending Mike Ashley's 14-year ownership of the club.
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Post by Football News on Oct 7, 2021 23:19:13 GMT
A Saudi Arabian-backed £305m takeover of Newcastle United has been completed.
The Premier League has approved the takeover after receiving "legally binding assurances" that the Saudi state would not control the club.
Instead the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which will provide 80% of funds for the deal, is seen as separate to the state.
This is despite the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, being listed as chair of PIF.
The sale went through after the deal passed the Premier League owners' and directors' test.
The takeover brings to an end Mike Ashley's 14-year spell as Newcastle United owner.
Fans gathered outside Newcastle's St James' Park stadium on Thursday to celebrate the takeover being approved.
PIF have assets of £250bn, making Newcastle one of the richest clubs in the world.
Financier Amanda Staveley, who fronted the consortium, said the new owners are making a "long-term investment" to ensure Newcastle are "regularly competing for major trophies".
Newcastle's last major domestic trophy was the 1955 FA Cup.
A Premier League statement said: "The Premier League, Newcastle United Football Club and St James Holdings Limited have today settled the dispute over the takeover of the club by the consortium of PIF, PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media.
"The legal disputes concerned which entities would own and/or have the ability to control the club following the takeover. All parties have agreed the settlement is necessary to end the long uncertainty for fans over the club's ownership.
"The Premier League has now received legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle United Football Club.
"All parties are pleased to have concluded this process which gives certainty and clarity to Newcastle United Football Club and their fans."
A deal was initially agreed in April 2020, but the buyers walked away four months later when the Premier League offered arbitration to settle a disagreement on who would control the club.
It is believed that a resolution came after Saudi Arabia settled an alleged piracy dispute with Qatar-based broadcaster beIN Sports, which own rights to show Premier League matches in the Middle East.
But sources have told BBC Sport that an agreement between the Premier League and the consortium was reached prior to news emerging on Wednesday that the piracy dispute had been resolved.
The Saudi Arabian state has been accused of human rights abuses, but with the majority owner PIF deemed a separate entity, that, and any piracy issues, were no longer an impediment to the takeover, in the Premier League's view.
Western intelligence agencies believe the crown prince ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 - which he denies.
PCP Capital chief executive Amanda Staveley will take a seat on Newcastle's board, while Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of PIF, will act as the club's non-executive chairman.
Staveley told BBC sports editor Dan Roan that PCP Capital took concerns over Saudi Arabia's human rights record "very seriously" but reiterated that their partner "is not that Saudi state, it's PIF".
When asked if this was a case of 'sportswashing' by Saudi Arabia, she said: "No, not at all, this is very much about the PIF's investment into a fantastic football team and we look forward to growing the club."
Opposition from human rights organisations Saudi Arabia has been accused of human rights abuses and women's rights campaigners have been imprisoned, despite some reform under Mohammed bin Salman, such as an end to the ban on women driving.
Homosexuality is outlawed in the country and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association says the death penalty is the legally prescribed punishment for same-sex sexual acts in Saudi Arabia.
Amnesty International UK said the takeover is "an extremely bitter blow for human rights defenders".
"We can understand that this will be seen as a great day by many Newcastle United fans," said chief executive Sacha Deshmukh.
"But it's also a very worrying day for anyone who cares about the ownership of English football clubs and whether these great clubs are being used to sportswash human rights abuse."
Deshmukh reiterated Amnesty International's call for the Premier League to "change their owners' and directors' test to address human rights issues".
Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, previously urged the Premier League not to allow the move to go through, citing the involvement of the crown prince.
End of the Ashley era Sports Direct chief executive Ashley bought Newcastle for £134m in May 2007.
He first put the club up for sale in September 2008 amid a series of protests from fans following the resignation of popular manager Kevin Keegan.
Newcastle were relegated from the Premier League that season and again in 2015-16, although returned to the top flight at the first opportunity both times by winning the Championship.
The Magpies' highest Premier League finish during Ashley's ownership was fifth in 2011-12 under Alan Pardew.
Ashley put Newcastle up for sale again in October 2017.
The club are 19th and winless after seven games this season, with boss Steve Bruce under pressure - a Newcastle United Supporters' Trust (NUST) survey said this week 94% of fans want Bruce to leave.
The same survey said 93.8% of its members are in favour of the takeover and NUST said in a statement that the sale brought "the first real hope" of success to the club "for many years".
NUST added it looked forward to working with the owners to "rejuvenate one of the greatest football clubs in England".
BBC
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Post by evertonfan1968 on Oct 9, 2021 12:58:34 GMT
They'll go down this season lol.
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Post by rugbytoffee on Oct 19, 2021 16:06:48 GMT
Premier League clubs have moved to prevent Newcastle United immediately striking lucrative sponsorship deals with companies linked to their new Saudi ownership.
It is understood clubs held an emergency meeting to impose a freeze on any of them agreeing to commercial arrangements with businesses their owners are associated with.
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