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Newcastle Utd takeover was controlled by Mohammed bin Salman, leaked WhatsApps suggest

Newcastle Utd takeover was controlled by Mohammed bin Salman, leaked WhatsApps suggest

In fact, Ms Staveley had been speaking to representatives of Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley since July 2019 and made a formal offer in November that year.

Mr Ashley, who made billions by founding the Sports Direct chain of stores and later bought House of Fraser, was keen to sell after putting the club on the market in 2017. But there was a problem.

A World Trade Organization investigation has concluded that the Saudi government is behind a pirate channel that illegally broadcasts Premier League games.

The rights to broadcast Premier League games in the Middle East were held by Qatari broadcaster BeIN, which was also the league’s most valuable foreign contract.

But Saudi Arabia had banned BeIN from broadcasting in its country, and instead pirated versions of the Premier League were illegally shown on Saudi channel beoutQ.

“This is not sportswear”

Anyone suspected of piracy can be banned from owning a club by the Premier League. Even if the Saudis stopped showing the pirated content, the Premier League could still block the takeover on the grounds of past wrongdoing.

To pass the Premier League’s ownership and director test, Ms Staveley’s consortium had to prove that PIF was independent of, and not controlled by, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, or in other words, the Crown Prince.

Much of the public discussion centered on Saudi Arabia’s human rights record (Amnesty International and Khashoggi’s widow were among those who objected to the deal when it became public), but the issue was one of piracy, not Saudi state ownership .

This need to show that PIF was independent of the kingdom or the crown prince became known as the “separation question.”

Ms. Staveley was categorical about this in an interview she gave in October 2021, after the acquisition was finally completed. “We take human rights very seriously,” she said, “but our partner is PIF, not the Saudi state.” The separation problem has been solved. It’s not sportswear. It’s an investment.”