SAUDI PRINCE URGED BORIS TO INTERVENE IN TOON TAKEOVER
SAUDI Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged Boris Johnson to intervene in the takeover of Newcastle United by telling the Premier League to ‘correct’ its decision to block the deal. In an extraordinary exchange revealed today by the Daily Mail, Bin Salman warned the Prime Minister on June 27 last year that Anglo-Saudi relations would be damaged unless the £300million buyout was approved. His message to Mr Johnson read: ‘We expect the English Premier League to reconsider and correct its wrong conclusion.’ Mr Johnson asked one of his senior aides, Lord Eddie Lister, to investigate the matter but the Saudis withdrew from the process at the end of July after the Premier League failed to approve them as the club’s new owners.
The Prime Minister backed calls later for the Premier League to reveal why the takeover had not been passed. The Crown Prince was enraged after the Premier League demanded to know if the Saudi state — in effect, Bin Salman himself — would be the owners of Newcastle. The Premier League had concerns over alleged state-backed broadcast piracy in the country, but the buying consortium insisted that the Public Investment Fund leading the deal was separate from the state. The PIF, along with financier Amanda Staveley and the Reuben brothers, agreed a deal with Newcastle owner Mike Ashley for the sale of the club exactly a year ago. That agreement remains in place and Ashley is awaiting an arbitration hearing
against the Premier League in a bid to have the takeover approved. A source, referring to Ashley (below), said last night: ‘In Mike’s eyes the club is sold. He feels Newcastle fans won the lottery but were denied a payout by the Premier League. ‘He wants to know why that happened and is determined for the deal to be signed off.’ Interestingly, a redundancy letter sent to staff at Newcastle’s club store this week referenced the ‘anticipated transfer of ownership of the club’ and ‘new owners of Newcastle Football Club’. There is optimism that the deal will be revived but that is subject to the outcome of the private arbitration hearing, which is yet to begin. The revelations about Government involvement at the highest level will be of interest to Newcastle supporters, who blame the Premier League for denying them new owners. Sportsmail reported on June 21 last year that a decision on the takeover was close and it was expected to go ahead given an increased level of Government involvement. It was said then that the Government were keen to preserve ties with Saudi Arabia. Documents released this week have revealed that, on June 21, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport wrote to the Premier League regarding an ‘imminent’ takeover decision. A Whitehall meeting to discuss Saudi Arabia was scheduled for the following day. But that announcement never arrived and within a week Bin Salman was lobbying the Prime Minister to intervene. In August, Mr Johnson took the unusual step of sending an email to members of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust. ‘I appreciate many Newcastle fans were hoping this takeover bid would go ahead and can understand their sense of disappointment,’ he said. ‘I have seen the recent email sent to Newcastle fans from the Independent Football Ombudsman and agree with their conclusion that the Premier League should make a statement on this case.’ Lord Lister said last night: ‘The Saudis were getting upset. We were not lobbying for them to buy it or not to buy it. We wanted them (Premier League) to be straightforward and say yes or no, « don’t leave (the Saudis) dangling.’
HE is not known to be a fan of Newcastle United. But Boris Johnson’s comments on the failed takeover of the club last year turned a local sports story into national news.
Fans were devastated when the £300million offer from a Saudi-backed consortium fell through. The club railed at alleged lengthy delays and accused the Premier League of ‘acting inappropriately’ once its owner, Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley, had accepted a bid.
Thousands of fans wrote to MPs to ask why the consortium pulled out. But in August, the Prime Minister himself intervened.
He said that ‘any sale is a matter for the interested parties, and for the Premier League to assess under its owners’ and directors’ test’. But he went on to back the conclusion of the Independent Football Ombudsman that the Premier League should make a statement outlining why the consortium withdrew its bid. The PM wrote: ‘I appreciate many Newcastle fans were hoping this takeover would go ahead and can understand their sense of disappointment... There must be clarity on why there was a significant delay.’ His intervention during a pandemic raised eyebrows.
But it seemingly paid off. The following month the Premier League, released a statement dismissing claims that it had rejected the Saudi-backed takeover.