THE Saudi-led consortium seeking to complete their £300million takeover of Newcastle have been hit by a series of demands from Prem chiefs.
Rumours that the Saudis were considering pulling out of the proposed deal were dismissed in vehement terms, with bid advisors confident the League will not veto the sale.
Newcastle’s potential owners are confident the FA won’t veto their takeoverCredit: Reuters
But SunSport understands that the league’s legal team have tabled a series of questions for the Saudis to answer.
They include the major issue of the illegal “theft” of the rights held in the Middle East region by beIN Sport.
The Saudis have also been probed on other concerns, in a signal that league bosses might be getting cold feet over green lighting the deal.
They are understood to include the Saudi government’s role in the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in their embassy in Turkey.
The ongoing civil war in Yemen and whether there would be a conflict of interests with Sheffield United already owned by a member of the Saudi royal family are other talking points.
And while suggestions that the Saudis are ready to throw in the towel and not accurate, the forensic scale of the league probe is a sign that there are still significant internal concerns.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley agreed the deal in April, with the Saudi state-run Public Investment Fund agreeing to shell out 80 per cent of the asking price.
PRESSURE
The rest was split equally by financier Amanda Staveley and the Reuben brothers.
But two months on, the takeover package has still passed the Premier League’s owners and directors test.
And it has now emerged that the Saudi team have been put under pressure to answer a string of intensive questions by league chiefs.
The planned takeover has been hit by the outstanding issue of TV piracy, with the Premier League’s long-standing Middle East broadcast partner, Qatar-based beIN Sport, pushing league chiefs to block the deal.
The Qataris argue that the Saudi government were responsible for the creation of the pirate beoutQ network, broadcast on the Arabsat satellite, which “stole” their feed across the Middle East.
Premier League bosses were caught up in the politics of the Gulf – with Qatar still hit by a Saudi-led blockade of the country – but had also failed in NINE separate attempts to take legal action in Riyadh.
Asking questions about other aspects of Saudi government actions would be an unusual step as the league has previously refused to intervene on “moral” concerns.
But it is now expected there will not be a definitive verdict from the league until after the formal publication of the World Trade Organisation investigation of Qatar’s claims against the Saudis, due in the next fortnight.
Meanwhile, Staveley is facing the prospect of spending a week in the witness box from today as part of her long-standing £1.6billion pound case against Barclays.
Newcastle takeover will get green light with Premier League bosses set to approve £300m Saudi buyout
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
