In April, PIF Investment Fund, headed by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, submitted a proposal to buy Newcastle for £300 million. However, the Premier League executive board was hesitant to approve due to many factors related to politics and trade. Most recently, a group of PIF corporations announced the cancellation of the "Magpies" acquisition project.
"We appreciate Newcastle and the values of the club but we have to decide to withdraw the offer to buy Newcastle United. It is a real pity that the corporations are very excited about this deal. We are committed to investing in Newcastle to bring the club back to its original position, while rewarding the trust of the fans.
Unfortunately, the long process along with the complicated developments in the global situation makes investment no longer commercially feasible," the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund affirmed.
In fact, the former owner Mike Ashley has wanted to sell Newcastle United for a long time but has not found a suitable partner. PIF Investment Fund and Prince Mohammed bin Salman are strong candidates. However, they are not popular with partners and many Premier League clubs.
Typically, Qatar's BeIN Sports broadcaster has written a letter asking the organizers and football teams to stop this deal. The reason given is that the Saudi Arabian government has condoned Premier League smuggling in this country for the past 3 years. Although they do not have copyright, TV stations such as beoutQ still take signals from national satellites and broadcast them publicly.
Live TV station was also involved in a controversy with beIN Sports. Moreover, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have already had many political conflicts, so controversies are inevitable. However, beIN Sports has the advantage of being a long-time partner and is holding a monopoly on Premier League broadcasting in the Middle East.
Last year, the Premier League also had a legal battle with Saudi Arabia to fight against organized copyright infringement. This incident has been warned to Saudi Arabia by the European Commission (EC). With all those ups and downs, the consequences of the Newcastle deal were long-predicted.
