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Between a rock and a hard place: the Government and Newcastle United

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would have to go through the new tougher owners’ and directors’ test because of their ownership of Newcastle United, a government minister told the House of Lords.

Baroness Twycross, a digital, culture, media and sport minister who is overseeing the passage of the Football Governance Bill, told fellow peer Lord Moynihan that anyone who has a high degree of influence over a club would have to pass the independent football regulator’s test — and that would include Bin Salman.

However, it is understood Twycross then left the chamber and later passed a handwritten note to Moynihan saying she may have to clarify that position.   In other words, she may have misspoke.

The statement by Twycross is potentially a huge embarrassment for the government. One peer involved in the debate said it was “a farce”, but that as it stands Bin Salman would have to go through the owners’ test.

The prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, invited Bin Salman to come to watch a match in England with him less than two weeks ago, on a visit to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi prince and de facto ruler of the kingdom is the head of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns Newcastle. The Premier League approved the takeover in 2021 only after receiving “legally binding assurances” that the Saudi state would have no control over the club.

Of ourse, quite what constitutes ‘the state’ in the desert kingdom is a moot point.

Just as the investigations into Manchester City have implications for high politics in terms of relations with Abu Dhabi, the UK Government would have to be careful about damaging relations with Saudi Arabia, a growing economic, military and sporting power.

 

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