Graeme Souness insists Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund should be nowhere near Newcastle United. The former Magpies manager did not hold back when discussing the ownership of his former club on ITV's coverage of Argentina vs Saudi Arabia at the World Cup in Qatar.
The Toon takeover was scrutinised to the highest degree, but eventually was given the green light, despite Saudi Arabia's questionable human rights record. There were accusations and allegations of sportwashing from across the globe, but once PIF had proven it was a separate entity to the state and piracy issues were ironed out, the Premier League approved the takeover.
"Football is such a vehicle for good and bad," Souness told ITV. "The sportswashing that’s going on in our own country, Newcastle, there’s no way the Saudi’s should have Newcastle United - nowhere near it.
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"But it’s not an ideal world, the Saudi’s have been invested in our country for decades, they’ve infiltrated every level of our country. Football has such a profile now, Saudi see it, Abu Dhabi see it, America see it, it’s a chance to improve whatever brand they’re involved in.
"Right now it’s a good news story about Manchester City, that brand, Man City and other teams they have bought, it’s only good news about them. I suppose Qatar will look upon Abu Dhabi with a bit of jealousy and they’ll be hoping after this tournament - it’s in their hands to improve workers rights, in their hands to improve diversification of the country.
"The LGBTQ community won’t go quietly, they’ll be on it all the time after the World Cup and that’s the risk they’ve taken, they’ve highlighted the problems within this country and people will be on them for the foreseeable future, if not forever."
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