Tuesday, October 19, 2021
No sponsor from Saudi Arabia
Competition allies against Newcastle
Only Manchester City abstained when the 20 Premier League clubs vote on a short-term ban on sponsorship deals. And only Newcastle United votes against it – as a newly rich club that the rule is supposed to slow down after the takeover by the Saudi Arabian state fund.
After the takeover of the traditional English football club Newcastle United by a Saudi Arabian state fund, the competition is mobilizing. At an emergency meeting, the Premier League clubs voted by a large majority to temporarily ban club sponsorship deals with companies owned by their owners.
A report in the English newspaper “The GuardianAccording to the total of 20 clubs, only Newcastle voted against the new regulation. Master Manchester City, who is already promoting the state airline of its owner from Abu Dhabi, has allegedly abstained. Both Newcastle and the Citizens cited competition concerns as a reason for their voting behavior.
The regulation adopted is clearly aimed at Newcastle. The clubs want to prevent the former champions from disproportionately upgrading their new owners with fresh money and thus changing the balance of power in the Premier League lastingly. Currently, the Magpies are still waiting for their first win of the season after the first eight match days and are penultimate in the table.
Club may not be officially controlled by the state
The ban on financial transactions within one’s own “family” applies provisionally from now on, initially for one month. This means that Newcastle cannot, at least in the short term, create any facts in the form of a high-value contract with a sponsor from the extensive holdings of its Saudi owners.
The associations also set up a working group to coordinate the further course of action. According to the Guardian, Newcastle has been offered to participate in the committee. The commission should examine whether it would be possible to at least limit covert payments from owners to their clubs through excessive sponsorship agreements with other “daughters” of the owner.
The entry of Saudi Arabia’s controversial Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – who is among other things responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi – managed state fund PIF for the equivalent of 350 million euros had caused severe criticism. Due to previous concerns about an impending distortion of competition, Newcastle’s new owners of the Premier League had to guarantee that the club would not be under Saudi Arabia’s state control.