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Newcastle United: Club Sold To PCP - Official


The Mighty Hog
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On 6/7/2020 at 00:27, Billy Whitehurst said:

That’s the way I see it. It would open up a massive can of worms and I really can’t see the PL wanting to do that. It’s not like they are a bastion of integrity so I think the delay is them trying to give the impression that they are seriously considering the counter arguments, even though I doubt they are. 

 

I’m fairly sure it will go through but I’m not that bothered. On the one hand, I want Ashley out but, on the other hand, I agree with those who say it is sports washing so anything we achieve will be tarnished somewhat. However, there’s a load of dirty money swilling round the PL so other teams can get to fuck if they want to try and take the moral high ground. I think the main reason I want it to go through is so that we all get to witness the inevitable meltdown from Richard Keys.

Completely agree.  I think the default position for the PL is to stick their heads under the blankets and hope it all goes away, so they don't have to make a decision at all. 

To that extent, Project Restart has been a blessing, because it has meant they can ignore this issue.  However, that excuse is going to run very thin soon.

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Sources have told The Athletic the crux of the delay is this: the Premier League cannot see a way to sanction the deal without Saudi Arabia unblocking beIN Sports, shutting down beoutQ and opening up its courts.

It is understood there has been what one source described as significant “back and forth” on this issue, with Newcastle’s prospective new owners, who include British businesswoman Amanda Staveley and UK property developers the Reuben brothers as minority shareholders, sending detailed answers to a fresh batch of questions about beoutQ’s piracy on Wednesday.

Staveley and her partners in the deal are believed to remain confident they will pass the test and assume control at Newcastle, but nobody can say with any certainty when that will happen.

There is no doubt this particular issue has caused more trouble than the Public Investment Fund, chaired by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, expected but the clues were always there in the small print of the Owners’ and Directors’ Test.

As The Athletic explained in April, the test has never been the subjective judgment its former name, the Fit and Proper Person Test, suggested. On the contrary, it is an objective list of requirements a prospective owner, part-owner, or club director must meet if they are going to be allowed to perform one of those roles in English football.

The test’s most important element is a checklist of “disqualifying events”: Are you allowed to be a director under UK company law? Do you have control or influence over another English club? Do you have an unspent conviction for an offence of dishonesty? Are you and your money allowed to enter the country? And so on.

The test is intentionally broad in a few areas, most notably on offences in a foreign jurisdiction that would result in criminal sanctions in Britain, rather than whether or not your behaviour actually resulted in a conviction.

Furthermore, there is also a specific reference in the test to digital piracy being a no-no and a more catch-all clause requiring any prospective owner or director to have never provided “false, misleading or inaccurate information” in their dealings with the league.

Several experts, none of whom wished to be quoted on the matter, have told The Athletic there are possible grounds here for the league to reject the takeover, or at the very least send the application back for urgent amendment.

 

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So the PL is using the uncertainty of the situation to manipulate the Saudis into shutting down the piracy. That's actually the most sane interpretation of the situation I can think of.

 

Totally understand the PL on this, it's a very sensible move. 

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If the Saudis agree to shut it down then all they have to do is wait a couple of years then blow Bein out of the water come the next round of bidding for the rights.

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Having so publicly set its heart on Newcastle and paid Mike Ashley a non-refundable deposit of £17 million, MBS will not want to leave the table empty-handed. The league will never have this much leverage again.

One source described the situation as a “potential disaster that could become the biggest win-win in history” if the league can persuade the Saudis to properly crack down on beoutQ, lift its blockade of beIN and allow its lawyers to take custom from aggrieved overseas rights-holders.

The sequence of events would be something along the lines of usual suspects being rounded up in Riyahd, a warehouse full of electronic equipment will be raided, the Saudi government gets the credit, beIN is begrudgingly allowed to operate again and MBS gets his Premier League billboard and investment opportunity.

And then, when the Premier League’s Middle East and North African broadcast rights become available again in 2022, a legitimate Saudi Arabian sports broadcaster can give beIN a run for its money in the auction, creating genuine competition in the region and very probably driving the price up.

No doubt that will prompt a few wry smiles at beIN’s headquarters in Doha, but competition is better than theft.

The concern for Newcastle fans, though, is this depends on MBS being willing to call off one of the dogs he unleashed against Qatar in 2017 and make some political moves at home. Absolute monarchies can do this kind of thing pretty quickly but not necessarily in time for the summer transfer window.

It has been suggested to The Athletic that this is the point where Staveley, the poorest member of the proposed new triumvirate at St James’ Park, can really earn her dollar, as somebody is going to have to tell MBS to give a little bit more to get what he wants.

Despite the pickle over the piracy, the smart money is still on this takeover going through but nobody is talking about the Saudis sailing through the Owners’ and Directors’ Test anymore.

This has been a troubled passage, and there may be a few more storms to navigate, but the prize is in sight.

 

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I wonder why they weren't doing it anyway though. Buying it legally I mean. It could be that its only worth doing if theres a club attached, and in turn that means the cost of acquiring us rises considerably.

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What it comes down to is the PL have never been in a better position to get SA to shut BeoutQ down and they'll leverage this deal to get that. 

 

One source described the situation as a “potential disaster that could become the biggest win-win in history” if the league can persuade the Saudis to properly crack down on beoutQ, lift its blockade of beIN and allow its lawyers to take custom from aggrieved overseas rights-holders.

The sequence of events would be something along the lines of usual suspects being rounded up in Riyahd, a warehouse full of electronic equipment will be raided, the Saudi government gets the credit, beIN is begrudgingly allowed to operate again and MBS gets his Premier League billboard and investment opportunity.

And then, when the Premier League’s Middle East and North African broadcast rights become available again in 2022, a legitimate Saudi Arabian sports broadcaster can give beIN a run for its money in the auction, creating genuine competition in the region and very probably driving the price up.

 

Even this fairly depressing article seems confident the takeover will go through.

Edited by The Fish
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This all seemed completely obvious from the very first time Beoutq was mentioned.  It's surely such a no brainer that your average readytogo poster could work out that the premier league just need to tell the Saudi's they have to get it shut down.  They then just have to tell the league with a wink that they have absolutely no part in it, but they will do everything they can to stop it.  They can also sweeten it by telling them they'll be more than happy to compete (blow out of the water) with Bein's next bid for rights.

What I don't see however, is how the premier league can hope to have any influence in the issues between Saudi Arabi and Qatar.  It's an issue much bigger than football and if as part of it, the Saudi's don't allow a foreign television company to broadcast in their country, surely they are perfectly entitled to that.  Although the Saudi's may see it in their best interests if it allows matches involving the team they are buying to be shown legally in the country.

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38 minutes ago, David Kelly said:

This all seemed completely obvious from the very first time Beoutq was mentioned.  It's surely such a no brainer that your average readytogo poster could work out that the premier league just need to tell the Saudi's they have to get it shut down.  They then just have to tell the league with a wink that they have absolutely no part in it, but they will do everything they can to stop it.  They can also sweeten it by telling them they'll be more than happy to compete (blow out of the water) with Bein's next bid for rights.

What I don't see however, is how the premier league can hope to have any influence in the issues between Saudi Arabi and Qatar.  It's an issue much bigger than football and if as part of it, the Saudi's don't allow a foreign television company to broadcast in their country, surely they are perfectly entitled to that.  Although the Saudi's may see it in their best interests if it allows matches involving the team they are buying to be shown legally in the country.

 

So you're saying that the purchase of Newcastle United could bring about peace in that part of the Middle East?

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3 hours ago, David Kelly said:

This all seemed completely obvious from the very first time Beoutq was mentioned.  It's surely such a no brainer that your average readytogo poster could work out that the premier league just need to tell the Saudi's they have to get it shut down.  They then just have to tell the league with a wink that they have absolutely no part in it, but they will do everything they can to stop it.  They can also sweeten it by telling them they'll be more than happy to compete (blow out of the water) with Bein's next bid for rights.

What I don't see however, is how the premier league can hope to have any influence in the issues between Saudi Arabi and Qatar.  It's an issue much bigger than football and if as part of it, the Saudi's don't allow a foreign television company to broadcast in their country, surely they are perfectly entitled to that.  Although the Saudi's may see it in their best interests if it allows matches involving the team they are buying to be shown legally in the country.


They don’t even have to shut it down. They just have to pay for the rights to show the games and then no one will care 

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It’s quite typical that we didn’t just get a failed takeover from some random but we get a 3 month saga that would have made us the richest club in the world.

Its just cruel tbh :lol: 

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1 hour ago, Tom said:

It’s quite typical that we didn’t just get a failed takeover from some random but we get a 3 month saga that would have made us the richest club in the world.

Its just cruel tbh :lol: 

I know I am very very far from the first person to say this, but this is the most Newcastle United thing ever. How the bastard scriptwriters will top this doesn't bear thinking about

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The master of putting people down because of their scepticism in regards of performances and Brucey’s ability is moaning about people being to positive in regards to the takeover...

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  • Tom changed the title to Newcastle United: Club Sold To PCP - Official

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