Amnesty International continue to put pressure on the Premier League after the takeover of Newcastle United returned to the headlines last week. In an unexpected twist Newcastle's acquisition by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been thrust back under the spotlight during court proceedings in America.
In a legal dispute between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, a San Francisco court has approved the PGA Tour's request to include PIF chair and Magpies chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan in its lawsuit and ordered them to produce documents in the case. However, PIF have challenged that order, arguing both the wealth fund and its governor Al-Rumayyan "are not ordinary third parties subject to basic discovery relevance standards".
Amnesty last week released a statement calling on the Premier League to 're-examine' the Newcastle takeover and the process which saw it given the green light. The Premier League refused to comment on the matter following the US lawsuit revelation but chief executive Richard Masters has previously suggested the takeover could be revoked should the 'legally-binding' assurances provided by PIF prove to be false.
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Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was quizzed on the matter at length in his pre-Manchester City press conference last Friday but maintained he has not sought any assurances over the ownership situation, instead focusing solely on matters to do with his first-team squad.
“I’ve not sought any assurances. To be honest, I’ve not given it too much time," Howe said last week. "I’m aware of the headlines, I’ve seen the headlines, but I haven’t really invested in the details behind it. I’ve got Manchester City to prepare for and that, genuinely, has taken all my attention.
Amnesty have now ramped up the pressure after the Premier League maintained their silence on the matter. Peter Frankental, Amnesty UK’s economic affairs director, said on Wednesday: "A week on from the Public Investment Fund revelations, there’s been a worrying silence from the Premier League about the Newcastle deal.
“Nearly three years ago, we were warning that the league needed to strengthen its ownership rules to prevent state-linked overseas buyers using English football for sportswashing – yet nothing was done and now there’s an apparent vacuum at the top of English football on this crucial issue.
“During the time that Saudi Arabia has owned Newcastle, the human rights crackdown under Mohammed bin Salman has worsened – with freedom of speech now all but extinguished, grossly unfair trials and torture commonplace, and the death penalty being used extensively and with horrifying results.
“It’s surely unimaginable that the Premier League won’t re-examine the assurances made about the non-involvement of the Saudi authorities in the Newcastle deal, and the sooner this is announced the better.”
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