EAGLES AID PROBE INTO PIF BANNER
CRYSTAL PALACE were last night co-operating with an ongoing police probe into an “offensive banner” shown at Selhurst Park against Newcastle.
Eagles fans at the Holmesdale Road Stand displayed the banner accusing the Magpies’ Saudi owners of beheadings, civil rights abuses, terrorism and murder.
It also depicted an image of Premier League chief executive Richard Masters standing in a pool of blood with a bag of money. Investors Amanda Staveley and her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi were in the crowd to witness the 1-1 draw.
Palace chairman Steve Parish (below) proposed the vote on a one-month ban on clubs concluding sponsorship deals with so-called related parties at last week’s emergency Premier League meeting. The move, which only Newcastle voted against, was seen as a way to stop the Saudi Public Investment Fund pouring quick money into the Toon.
But Crystal Palace had no prior knowledge of the banner being brought into the ground and are helping Croydon Met Police with their enquires. The Holmesdale Fanatics, the Eagles supporters who showed the banner, had earlier issued a statement.
It read: “The Saudi led takeover of Newcastle has rightly received widespread condemnation and anger. It is clear the P.I.F. is a front for the tyrannical ruling Saudi regime and by endorsing this, the Premier League has made a mockery of its own ‘Owners’ and Directors’ test.
“The Premier League has chosen money over morals and done business with one of the world’s most bloody and repressive regimes. A country controlled by fear where women are second-class citizens, same-sex partnerships banned, journalists silenced, imprisoned or killed, and ‘dissidents’ brutally persecuted, now has a foothold in our national game.
“To give the ‘thumbs up’ to this deal at a time when the Premier League is promoting the women’s game and inclusive initiatives such as rainbow armbands, shows the total hypocrisy at play and demonstrates the league’s soulless agenda where profits trump all.
“Newcastle, as a team, is now being used to sportswash the blood from the hands of a corrupt governance and deluded fans should consider that reality when singing of ‘getting their club back’.
“We are lucky to live in a country where we can display a banner such as this without repercussion. Many in Saudi Arabia wish they were afforded those.”