Mark Douglas has been speaking on a recent episode of the Everything is Black and White Podcast, discussing the failed takeover of Newcastle United.
Douglas spent most of the episode talking about Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed takeover bid that was withdrawn on 30th July.
One of the topics that came up around this was the Premier League’s refusal to comment on the situation, and this is what Douglas had to say on the matter:
“So far they have not responded, I am not sure whether they are going to respond at this point, because I think they’ll be thinking that to an extent [that] if this consortium is still interested, if they say something and if they come out with a statement, are they prejudicing a potential future application through the owners’ and directors’ test?
“That’s one of the things that has been suggested to me as well, but I think their stance at the moment feels totally untenable.”
As well as this, Douglas also revealed that there is activity taking place behind the scenes as a resolution to this situation continues to be searched for.
“There are things going on behind the scenes; I don’t think it’s necessarily right to reveal too much about what is being done behind the scenes.”
So, it looks as if Douglas thinks the Premier League might continue to say nothing, even though he believes it is an unsustainable situation, and that there are ongoing efforts to resolve the matter – though it is not clear who they are between or what they are about.
Do you think the Premier League will say anything?
No, they just want this to go away
Yes, I think they will have to
TIF Thoughts…
Since the deal was withdrawn, the Premier League has said nothing despite the growing pressure on them, and there hasn’t even been a response to Staveley’s claims that the league authorities themselves were the reason the deal collapsed.
However, if what Douglas says about the possibility of prejudicing is correct, their silence makes sense if the bid is brought back to the table.
It is also unclear what he means by ‘things going on behind the scenes‘, but Douglas’ claims are supported by MP Richard Holden, who seemed to suggest in an interview that there was movement with regards to seeking a resolution.
It will be interesting to see if any details of this are revealed in the coming days and weeks.