This Premier League they don’t comment on an argument made by Public Investment Fund (PIF) that they were “the sovereign instrument of the Kingdom” in a US court Saudi Arabia”, a position that seems to contradict the reasons given for approving the controversial takeover related to Newcastle United in October 2021.
Despite this general manager Richard Masters He said at the time that the Premier League had been given “legally binding assurances that essentially the state would not be responsible for the club” and that “if there is evidence to the contrary, we can remove the consortium from owning the club”. .
Development, Legal battle between PGA Tour and LIV Golf, another highly contentious PIF sports project. A federal judge ordered the fund to hand over the documents and ruled that governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is also chairman of Newcastle United, should sit down for the PGA Tour’s lawyers to testify. The court rejected PIF’s claim of immunity and lack of jurisdiction.
In response, the fund presented an amicus briefing calling for the revocation of the order that subjected them to discovery, arguing that it created an “unprecedented exception” and that complying with it would require them to violate Saudi law.
The introduction says: “Order is far from being justified here, an extraordinary violation of the sovereignty of a foreign state. The Public Investment Fund (“PIF) and His Excellency Yasir Othman Al Rmayyan (“HE”) are not ordinary parties subject to fundamental exploratory relevance standards. They are a sovereign instrument of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the incumbent minister of the Saudi government…”
This is directly related to the long process that led Public Investment to acquire 80% of Newcastle United as part of a consortium.
In the first attempts to buy the club in the first half of 2020, the “Fourth Form” of the Owners and Managers Test was never filled. Sources at the time would raise questions about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and a host of other human rights violations, as this would be signed on behalf of the state.
The absence of entries in this form ultimately meant that the Premier League had not made any real decisions for so long.
“The basis of the case was control,” said one person familiar with the proceedings.
Newcastle president Yasir Al-Rumayyan (centre left) and co-owner Amanda Staveley were at Wembley on Sunday as the Magpies were defeated in the carabao Cup final.
(PA Archive)
At the time, the Premier League offered arbitration to settle the dispute, which was rejected. The consortium has temporarily moved away.
This issue was only resolved when the PIF filled out the Fourth Form in the months before the October 2021 takeover, a development combined with “legally binding assurances” that the absolute monarchy “will not control Newcastle United Football Club”.
The Premier League was “comfortable” with the way builds were presented.
CEO Masters in November 2021 Interviewed by BBC Sport He was asked how the Premier League would know if the consortium was following the orders of the country’s Crown Prince.
“In this case, I don’t think we will know. I don’t think that will happen,” Masters said. “There are actually legally binding assurances that the state will not be responsible for the club.
“If we find evidence to the contrary, we can remove the consortium from owning the club. That’s understood.”
The Premier League is not commenting on developments.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said that at the time of Newcastle’s takeover, the Premier League had been given “legally binding assurances that in fact the state would not be responsible for the club”.
(PA Wire)
Meanwhile, Peter Frankental, Amnesty International UK’s Director of Economic Affairs, said the NGO’s view was: “It was always naïve to the breaking point to imagine that the Saudi state wasn’t directing the acquisition of Newcastle United to use it as the ultimate goal. club as part of wider sports wash efforts.
“In the 18 months since the acquisition of Newcastle, the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia has deteriorated significantly as numerous executions following unfair trials, courts jailing peaceful critics, and authorities continue to block accounts for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
“There is a clear irony in the sovereign wealth fund statement that came up in a dispute over another branch of Saudi Arabia’s thriving sports empire, but the simple truth is that the Saudi sports wash is affecting a large number of sports and governing bodies need to respond to it much more effectively.
“The Premier League will definitely need to re-examine the assurances given by Saudi officials that they were not involved in the Newcastle deal, at least while there is still a Qatar bid for Manchester United on the table at the moment.”