Mark Douglas has been speaking on the latest episode of The Chronicle’s Everything is Black & White podcast, and he has been talking about Saudi Arabia’s vow to crack down on piracy.
Douglas spoke about the Toon’s 3-0 win over Sheffield United as well, but he spent a bit of time talking about this latest development.
Here is what he had to say about that in full:
“I think that it’s certainly viewed as significant by people within the PIF and close to the deal as well, it’s viewed by them as something that’s definitely worth highlighting.
“I think, obviously, piracy has been the main holding point.
“I think there’s been other things as well, but piracy has been the biggest thing.
“I think the Premier League just didn’t feel as if they could grant them the green light while there were so many questions around it.
“So, this is seen as addressing the WTO report, and it’s also seen by the people in the PIF and the people close to the deal as something that could potentially move this forward very quickly.”
It seems as if Douglas and people within the deal feel that this is a positive move forward in the Toon’s proposed takeover by Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium.
Do you agree with Douglas?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
Saudi Arabia announced they would be shutting down 231 websites in an attempt to crack down on piracy, and this feels like a positive step toward the Toon’s takeover.
It was suggested that Saudi Arabia might have to make some concessions to allow their takeover through, and it feels like these measures are the beginning of those.
Bloomberg also reported that beIN Sports was now available again in some Saudi cafes – so could that be another concession?
Either way, it seems PIF and Douglas feel that this latest move by Saudi Arabia is important.