Duncan Castles has been speaking on the latest episode of The Transfer Window podcast, discussing the failed takeover of Newcastle United.
Castles spent a lot of time talking about the fallout from Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium withdrawing its bid to buy the club on 30th July.
One of the issues that Castles discussed was what irritated Staveley’s company, PCP, about the whole process.
“A big complaint from PCP is that the Premier League did not actually make a decision. Essentially, they refused to give a decision, and in the end, that delay over giving a decision running over a three-month period, led to PIF to withdraw and make the statement that they were out of the deal.
“They feel that the Premier League failed to serve its purpose as a regulatory body; its duty was to give a decision one way or another.
“Had they given a decision in the negative that would have allowed the buying parties to challenge that decision.”
So, it is clear that PCP was annoyed with the Premier League because ultimately, their lack of a decision meant that the buyers couldn’t even appeal if the deal had not been denied approval.
Are you also annoyed by this?
Yes, it is ridiculous that they didn't make a decision
No, they obviously just couldn't decide
TIF Thoughts…
The fact that the Premier League didn’t make a decision forced the buyers to walk away, and despite chief executive Richard Masters hoping that a decision was close in June, by the end of July, the Premier League had still not decided, which led to the bid being withdrawn.
Since then, there has been a petition launched demanding an independent investigation into why this takeover collapsed.
There is also political pressure from many MPs, as well as Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has asked for some clarity on what happened.
We can see why PCP would be annoyed, as the lack of a decision deprived them of the chance to progress the matter further by way of an appeal.