THE GOOD, THE RIYADH & THE UGLY
Why Toon fans must not blindly cheerlead a Saudi takeover and the potential for big-money signings.. they must question it constantly and apply pressure for a real change in the regime
NEWCASTLE UNITED fans do not get to choose who owns their club.
They didn’t choose Mike Ashley’s chaotic, provocative, success-starved, largely miserable 13-year regime, riddled with poor decisions and a lack of long-term vision.
And they have not chosen their club to be used as a tool to add a glossy Premier League PR shine to the international reputation of a human rights-abusing, journalist-murdering, dissident-jailing Saudi state.
But Newcastle fans DO get to choose how they react to legitimate, powerful, political debate surrounding the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund paying £300million to take control of the city’s mood-defining institution.
Geordie fans don’t have to be cheerleaders for one of the world’s most controversial nations just because they also support Newcastle.
If the deal gets approved and the ruling Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – also chairman of the PIF – is brought in as the saviour of St James’ Park, it will not put the city in its best light.
It would be wiser to retain a degree of scepticism and ask questions such as: why do these people really want to own Newcastle?
Looking on from Riyadh, is it because they’ve always had a soft spot for the Geordie accent or the Tyne Bridge? Or do they just want to help in a charitable way?
Or is it because they need Newcastle as a weapon in their geopolitical Middle East war on Qatar? For sports-washing, moneymaking, real estate, development, ego, political influence and reflected glory?
Some Tyneside fans say, ‘Don’t bring politics into football’. They just want to watch some decent football. Well, politics and ethical business conduct was very much on the agenda when it was Ashley who everyone wanted rid of.
Sports Direct, zero-hours contracts and working conditions in his warehouses were rightly used as sticks to beat him with.
So please don’t dismiss the pain and suffering of the partner of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was butchered in a Saudi embassy for being a thorn in the state’s side.
The reaction to Hatice Cengiz’s campaign against the Saudi buy-out of Newcastle by some fans on Twitter has been sickening.
If the Saudis want to use
‘How about using the fan base to lobby Saudis to release political prisoners?’
Newcastle to enhance their reputation, she has a right to use the purchase to shine a light on exactly how Khashoggi suffered.
When trade unions and MPS highlighted the business practices of Ashley (right), fans lapped it up.
So it would be hypocritical to ignore the human rights abuses of innocent campaigners jailed – detailed by Amnesty International – just because a Saudi government fund with £320billion is offering the potential of a trophy and have money to spend on players.
Newcastle fans can be smarter than that.
The Saudi PIF has also invested in Uber, Disney and other major corporations, so why single out the Toon deal?
It’s a fair point. Why not pick on those acquisitions?
But owning a fraction of Facebook, or whatever, is very different from taking an 80 per cent controlling interest in a football club and using it as a tool to improve the reputation of a nation.
How about using the power of a fan base to lobby the Saudi owners to release political prisoners and women jailed for speaking against the regime? Or reform laws that see homosexuality punishable by death?
How about demanding the end to executions –
185 last year, the most ever in 12 months, including 37 on one day in April.
The reason why the vast majority – 97 per cent, according to a poll by the supporters’ trust – are keen for this takeover is because it is time for someone else to have a go.
There would be ambition on Tyneside again in a football world facing uncertainty.
But that doesn’t mean the domestic issues ruled over by the crown prince can be ignored.