Premier League chief executive refuses to answer question on Newcastle United

The Premier League should re-examine assurances received from Newcastle United’s Saudi owners that the Middle East state would not have control of the club.

2 min readUpdated: Mar 29, 2023 02:26 AM IST

Newcastle's takeover by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) was rubber-stamped in October 2021 after "legally binding assurances" that the Saudi government would have no control of the north-east club.

Listen to this article

Premier League chief executive refuses to answer question on Newcastle United

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters refused to comment on Newcastle FC’s links with Saudi Arabia and whether there is an ongoing investigation into NUFC’s ownership.

Masters, who was talking before a select committee at Westminster, while responding to a question from Labour MP Clive Efford, said that he was unable to go into “regulatory issues” or “investigatory process.”

“I’m afraid I can’t really comment on it,” he was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

“Even to the point of saying ‘Is the Premier League investigating it?’, I can’t really comment. Obviously we are completely aware and you are correct about the general nature of the undertakings we received at the point of takeover but I can’t really go into it at all.

“The only time when the Premier League comments publicly on regulatory issues is when it’s charged and at the end of the process when an independent panel decides if any rule breaches have actually taken place. The investigatory process, we don’t talk about at all,” he added.

Newcastle’s takeover by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) was rubber-stamped in October 2021 after “legally binding assurances” that the Saudi government would have no control of the north-east club.

The Premier League should re-examine assurances received from Newcastle United’s Saudi owners that the Middle East state would not have control of the club in the wake of a court document filed in the U.S., Amnesty International had said earlier this month.

Story continues below this ad

a U.S. court case concerning the PGA Tour and LIV golf this week described Newcastle chairman and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan as a “sitting minister of the government,” casting doubt on the independence of the club’s ownership.

The PIF is chaired by the Saudi Prime Minister, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, with eight of the nine PIF board members listed on the fund’s website as being either a minister or a royal advisor.

(With Reuters inputs)

Tags:
Newcastle

Loading Recommendations...

Mar 11: Latest News

Live Blog