Prime Minister urged to act on Saudi takeover of Newcastle

A group of 16 MPs and peers have written to the Prime Minister complaining about the planned Saudi Arabia-led takeover of Newcastle United and urged him to stop the UK being used as a vehicle for “sports-washing”.

A cross-party group of politicians, including former Labour leader Lord Kinnock and Conservative MP Sir Peter Bottomley, signed the letter to Boris Johnson which cites the Gulf state’s alleged involvement in the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, its jailing of human rights activists, its use of online espionage, and its involvement in the Yemeni civil war.

It also says the planned £300million purchase of Newcastle, bankrolled primarily by the country’s Public Investment Fund, “sends the wrong message”. Written in conjunction with campaign group Fifa Ethics and Regulations Watch, the letter urges the Government to help sports develop “more robust ‘fit and proper’ persons tests” to account for the human rights records of those involved.

Several MPs had called on the Government to intervene in the takeover but it refused to do so, saying a decision on the purchase was a matter for the world’s richest league.

The Telegraph revealed last week that the chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Masters, had written to Khashoggi’s fiancee’s lawyer to assure him calls by Hatice Cengiz for it to stop the takeover were being “fully considered”. He also told Rodney Dixon QC he “remains extremely sympathetic to your client’s position”.

The Premier League has also been lobbied to stop the takeover because of accusations of piracy of its matches by Saudi Arabia.