The Athletic’s Matt Slater has told the Pod On The Tyne that the Saudis have managed to “unite the football world” against them due to the ongoing piracy issue.
It has been 85 days since the proposed Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle United went to the Premier League for their owners’ and directors’ test – and still, there has been no official word with regards to what the final decision may be.
Slater sat down with George Caulkin on a recent edition of the podcast to discuss the takeover saga in depth and look at some of the issues that have caused lengthy delays and could still prevent the deal from being signed off.
He said: “The Premier League, before anyone had mentioned Newcastle United, were annoyed with the Saudi state. That’s all been going on for a while. I’ve spoken to people that have said for the last year or so [that] the Premier League has been lobbying the British government to go have a word with the Saudis because not only are they pinching the Premier League, they’re pinching Wimbledon, they’re pinching F1. FIFA have been on to them, UEFA have been on to them, La Liga, Bundesliga, they don’t agree on much, but they kind of agree on piracy. So the Saudis have managed to unite the football world.”
Are you concerned the piracy issues will prevent the takeover from getting the green light?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
Judging by Slater’s comments, it appears the Premier League are not the only ones who have been victims of the piracy committed by BeoutQ, which the World Trade Organisation has declared Saudi Arabia responsible for.
Fortunately for the Magpies, whilst the takeover talk still appears to be at the forefront of many people’s minds, it hasn’t impacted the team in a negative way. Since the restart, Steve Bruce’s side have picked up eight points in the Premier League and are on course to achieve more points than they did last season under Rafael Benitez.