The Shields Gazette journalist Liam Kennedy has been discussing the Saudi Arabian-backed consortium’s failed takeover of Newcastle United.
In late July, it was announced that the Saudi-backed consortium had ended its £300m bid to purchase the Toon from Mike Ashley (per BBC).
It was stated that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF had run out of patience with the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test, which had dragged on since April.
So, in a recent episode of NUFC Matters on YouTube, Kennedy made an appearance and shared his thoughts on what he believed to be an ‘astonishing situation’.
He said: “If [PIF have] done all that they can, then there needs to be compromise. Compromise is the keyword here. It’s an astonishing situation that we find ourselves in, that a government can’t satisfy a regulatory body that has a test which runs for two weeks at some points – which is a very basic test when you read it.
“‘Are you a criminal?’, ‘No’. ‘Have you been involved in any financial issues?’, ‘No’. It’s a basic, basic test. The Premier League have [gone] beyond their remit.
“It’s their test, effectively they can do what the hell they want with it, but they’ve gone beyond their remit in this test and they’ve really pushed it to try and answer questions.
“I think Richard Masters has got a big part to play in this, as well. He wasn’t the first, second, third, fourth choice for that job and I think he’s really trying to make a name for himself, here.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, he believes that the Premier League have ‘gone beyond their remit’ during the failed takeover bid for the Toon.
Do you believe the Premier League went beyond their remit with their tests?
Yes, they definitely did
No I don't think so
It certainly does seem questionable that a test which Kennedy stated can run for as little as two weeks was dragged out for several months between April and the end of July.