Fans of Newcastle United have been reacting to a post on Twitter, which shares an open letter written to fans of the club by Hatice Cengiz – the fiancee of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The letter concerns Khashoggi, the US-based critic of Saudi Arabia’s government who was murdered at the country’s consulate in Istanbul, as well as Newcastle’s proposed takeover by a consortium that is backed by the Saudi Arabian state.
In reaction to her letter, which was shared by Mark Douglas on Twitter, fans of the club have flocked to have their say on the matter, with many questioning why Cengiz is writing to the Newcastle fanbase directly, as they have no control over any aspect of the takeover deal.
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Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of Jamal Khassogi, has written an open letter to #nufc fans about the proposed #nufctakeover.
It's here: pic.twitter.com/KjLgRu2yVP
— Mark Douglas (@MsiDouglas) May 13, 2020
Mark I ain’t defending anything at all that happened but why is she writing open messages to our fan base and not sending letters to Twitter, Uber, Live Nation, the cruise company, Independant or any of the other places?
I can’t help feeling she is being used by someone in this.
— David Pick (@davidpick1987) May 13, 2020
This is getting ridiculous now. Really, really tedious.
Either pass it or don’t.
Most people are completely fed up of the whole situation now.
— Mouth of the Tyne ??? (@ToonMouthTyne) May 13, 2020
If it was up to Newcastle fans who ran Newcastle United I don’t think we’d be sat here 13 years into Mike Ashley’s ownership.
This is almost a weekly event by this point.— NUFCThreatLevel (@NUFCThreatLevel) May 13, 2020
I am in no way dismissive of her opinions, the tragedy she suffered or questions about the Saudi regime but WHY is it seemingly down to NUFC fans to stand up. Why aren’t Sheff Utd fans? Or Man City fans? Or Chelsea fans?
— Keir (@WaughKeir) May 13, 2020
“We should not let the beautiful game of football to be shamed” I doubt she has any interest in football or the premier league. I’m sorry for what happened to her fiance but this has nothing to do with her. It’s not fair to put this on the fans.
— lee mc (@leemcder) May 13, 2020
Using our takeover as a platform to address her husbands death, yes it was a horrible thing that happened but it has absolutely nothing to do with #NUFC or this country
— JordxnT (@JxrdanT97) May 13, 2020
She’s definitely been put up to this by Qatar or BeIN. She wouldn’t give a toss about football or the premier league and there are far bigger deals going on with PIF than our little club
— OzzyMag (@OzzyMag) May 13, 2020
What do we think?
It is indeed true that Newcastle fans have no control over who purchases their club, and in that sense, it could be argued that they are correct to question why the letter has been addressed to them.
However, the opposite side of the argument could suggest that Cengiz’s letter may have been written with the aim of causing some sort of protest amongst the Newcastle fans to object the takeover deal because of the alleged actions of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi state.
In any case, it would appear that many of the Newcastle fans are growing weary of the various external threats to the deal, and would just like to know whether the takeover will be confirmed or not.