What is happening at Newcastle United?

Newcastle fans across the world have been celebrating the end of Mike Ashley's ownership after 14 years of disappointment. The new Saudi Arabian owners have promised to invest money on the pitch but their history off the pitch is what is the main concern. 

Mike Ashley 

In Ashley’s 14 year stint at Newcastle he seemingly did everything he possibly could to get the fans to turn against him. Renaming Saint James’ Park, being unsupportive of Jonas Gutierrez’ cancer battle, hiring Joe Kinnear, giving Allan Pardew an 8-year contract, and most recently letting Rafa Benitez walk and replacing him with Steve Bruce.

The Allegations against Mike Ashley are ones of poor ownership and lack of ambition. However, the allegations against the new Saudi-led ownership are ones of human rights violations, murder, dismemberment, homophobia, sexism, and racism.

Sportswashing 

The term ‘sportswashing’ is becoming more frequent in the football vocabulary. Wealthy owners with more than shady pasts have been buying & sponsoring some of the worlds biggest football clubs.

The term is used to describe when regimes use sport to cover up previous damaging reputations, such as the relationship between Qatar and PSG. Qatar have also had a history with Bayern Munich, AS Roma, and Barcelona and have come under heavy criticism for their treatment of women's rights and migrant workers, especially in the build-up to the 2022 World Cup. 

Who are the new owners?

Under the new ownership, 80% of Newcastle United will be owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The PIF is a way for the country to re-invest the money it makes through exports (mainly oil) into different industries, as they look to diversify away from oil and generate new streams of income.

The face of the takeover has been Amanda Stavely who has made millions acting as the middle-woman for wealthy Gulf based investors looking for opportunities in Europe, she was also a major part in the deal which saw Manchester City sold to Sheikh Mansour.

Stavely has claimed that the PIF is a separate body which the Saudi Government has no control over and therefore has no control over the club, this was also the reason the Premier League approved the takeover after blocking it last year. Although some have found this hard to believe given the obvious links between the Saudi Government and PIF.

In 2016, The Wall Street Journal named the PIF as among the least transparent sovereign wealth funds in the world with the fund being described as a ‘quasi-sovereign’ wealth fund, in other words, government controlled.

The fund has been investing heavily since 2015 in high-profile companies like Uber, Facebook, Disney & The Bank of America.

In March 2019 the PIF paid American communications firm Karv Communications $120,000 USD a month to repair the Saudi Government’s damaged reputation after the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi 

After speaking out against the censorship that the Saudi Arabian government had placed on journalists, Jamal Khashoggi had fled to the US and was a regular contributor for the Washington Post where he would critisize the Saudi government, in particular the prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Khashoggi was harassed on twitter by bots made by the Saudi government who have a zero-tolerance policy on social media criticsm. Khashoggi was later lured to the Saudi Arabinan consulate in istanbul where he was going to collect documents for his upcoming marriage, but was never seen again.

Human Rights Violations 

Jamel Khashoggi is unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg in terms of human rights violations by the Saudi government. Those who criticise the government, or campaign for womens rights or human rights are often harassed and jailed in unfair trials.

Human rights activists and non-for-profit Amnesty International have described the takeover as a “clear attempt by the Saudi authorities to sportswash their appalling human rights record with the glamour of top-flight football”.

The links between the Saudi Arabian government and the PIF ownership of Newcastle United are undeniable, many Newcastle fans just want on pitch success which will hopefully eventuate without the human rights baggage.