Not all fans of Newcastle United are prepared to turn a blind eye to the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s takeover of the club. The campaign group, NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing (NUFCFAS), plans to stage a protest outside St James’ Park in Newcastle ahead of Saudi Arabia’s friendly against Costa Rica tonight. It wants to prick the consciences of fellow fans but, if past protests are anything to go by, only a handful of Newcastle’s huge fan base will turn up. It is a lonely battle at the best of times when football supporters of any team take a stand based on morality in a money-obsessed sport.
Money is the only thing that talks in football and the Saudis know this better than anyone
Campaigners lobbied both the FA and Newcastle city council to cancel the friendlies against Costa Rica and South Korea. They were ignored. The consortium that took over the club in 2021 is majority-funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. It claims to be a separate entity to the Saudi state, even though the fund is chaired by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Last November, the PIF invested a further £70 million in the club. In total, it has invested more than £450 million into the side. This is all that matters, supposedly.
The two friendlies being played by Saudi Arabia at St James’ Park are significant because they are the clearest sign yet that the Saudi ownership model for Newcastle is very much about burnishing the country’s image on the international stage. The reasons for this so-called sportswashing are well rehearsed. It deflects attention from Saudi abuses, including mass executions, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and widespread discrimination against women.
It is highly unlikely that Newcastle would be playing host to the friendly matches if the Saudi-backed sovereign wealth fund didn’t own the club. Tickets for the games are being sold for as little £5 but demand is reported to be low. Is that really any surprise?
The friendlies involving the Saudi national team must also raise fresh doubts about the ‘legally binding assurances’ given to the Premier League in 2021 that the takeover was not linked to the Saudi state. Are we really supposed to believe that Saudi Arabia choosing to play in Newcastle is just a coincidence? Not does the Premier League appear to care much about what Saudi ownership of a club as iconic as Newcastle says about the reputation of the league itself – perhaps because the league has no real reputation to protect. Accusations of human rights violations are merely small change when it comes to club ownership, as we’ve seen with Manchester City.
The Premier League, which is the world’s most commercially successful competition, appears to be clueless or unwilling to confront the growing threat it faces to its dominance from Saudi Arabia. The stance it is adopting has strong echoes of the mistakes made by those running professional golf when the Saudi-backed LIV competition started to encroach on the game. First there was complacency, then denial, and finally sheer helplessness as the sheer amount of Saudi money on offer began attracting more and more of golf’s biggest stars. The same thing is happening now in football in this country. In July, Richard Masters, the Premier League’s chief executive, insisted he ‘wouldn’t be too concerned’ by the growing Saudi influence over football. He is still in the complacency and denial stages. This mindset produces indifferent shrugs, even as more and more players defect to the Saudi Pro League, following in the footsteps of fading superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. More and more big name managers and coaches will inevitably follow. The Saudis don’t have to worry about balancing the books or any notions of financial fair play. The question is what will the football authorities do, if anything. The clock is ticking. After complacency and denial comes capitulation, as golf shows all too well. Money is the only thing that talks in football and the Saudis know this better than anyone. Two meaningless friendless in St James’ Park is just their latest way of letting everyone in football know it.
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