Saudi investment in Newcastle United paying off

As the feverish anticipation that had simmered across Newcastle all day reached its boiling point, the stands of St. James’ Park were a rolling sea of black and white flags. Newcastle United were back in the Champions League after a 20-year absence and one of England’s most evocative and enduring grounds, packed with 52,000 fans, was ready for the visit of Paris Saint-Germain.

Less than a month earlier, the flags flying were green and white, as Saudi Arabia lost 1-0 to South Korea in an international friendly played here in front of just 3,000 people. For a club quick to point out that technically it is not directly owned by the Gulf country but by its Public Investment Fund (PIF), controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, it was a fairly brazen show of strength, a provocation to English football authorities who bought the obfuscation that this was not a state-owned club.

The confirmation, hours before kickoff, that the Saudis would bid for the 2034 World Cup, was a further flex of already well-developed muscles.

Newcastle's away strip now resembles that of the Saudi national team, and they are on their way to becoming the most popular club in the Gulf state. They have sold winger Allan Saint-Maximin to PIF club Al Ahli in Saudi Arabia and have signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Sela, an events company majority owned by the PIF.

Newcastle’s opponents on Wednesday, PSG, have a similar ownership arrangement with Qatar while Champions League holders Manchester City are owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Though such takeovers have met with some objection, success on the pitch seems to have eased concerns for the vast majority of fans in England and the loosely regulated Premier League. But not all of them.

Human rights talk stopped

John Hird, of the NUFC fans against Saudi Sportswashing (NUFCFAS) campaign, has said any success at a club where his family had been regulars for generations would leave a "bad taste" as a result of the ownership.

"Each fan has to live with their own conscience," he told DW. "We would never say to fans that they should boycott. Basically our position is that we want fan groups, local politicians, councillors, MPs, the press, [Newcastle legend] Alan Shearer and everyone connected with the club, to stick to what they said, pre-takeover. All of them said that being taken over by the Saudi state would not stop us talking about human rights. Well, let's be honest, unfortunately, that hasn't happened."

The club's manager, Eddie Howe, has repeatedly failed to address questions on a long list of human rights violations and the ongoing war in Yemen, citing a lack of knowledge of the situation and claiming it is not within his remit. According to Amnesty International, these violations include targeting "individuals for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association"  the "death penalty following grossly unfair trials, including in cases of individuals who were children at the time of the alleged crime" and "codifying male guardianship and discrimination against women."

Clips on social media have seen Newcastle fans lash out verbally at people who share Hird's perspective, a development he finds troubling.

"The problem is some Newcastle fans, unfortunately, repeat the propaganda. Now, that's totally unacceptable, we can't allow a bloody dictatorship to get that propaganda repeated. The majority of fans obviously do not support that. But that's the worrying thing."

The NUFCFAS campaign is run by a small number of volunteers and had no significant presence at Wednesday's match. It appears abundantly clear that the majority of Newcastle fans either feel like their voice on ownership doesn't matter, are apathetic about the issue, or are simply pleased that that the Saudi takeover in 2021 lifted the club and city out of the doldrums and back on to the biggest stage.

Back in the Champions League

"It's fantastic, like a dream," Mick Edmondson, who owns a sports memorabilia shop, The Back Page, told DW.

"I'm not speaking for every Newcastle fan. But the majority, and I mean a massive majority, of the people I've spoken to and the people I know and go to the matches with have the same view as me. It's absolutely tremendous."

While fans like Edmondson just want to see the good times roll again in the northeast of England, and perhaps even win a first trophy since 1955, for others Saudi Arabia's investment in Newcastle, as well as in golf, cricket, Formula 1, the Saudi Pro League and other sports are part of something much bigger, and much more concerning.

"Saudi Arabia want to place themselves in the league of global powers like China and the USA, they want to become a big geopolitical player," Stanis Elsborg from Danish transparency and democracy in sport advocates Play the Game told DW.

"All of them (Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE) use sport as a means to address the aspirations and entertainment desires of the population, offering alternative sources of diversion and national pride in the absence of political rights and civil liberties."

Elsborg expects the men's football World Cup to be the next jewel in the Saudi sporting crown, with the summer Olympics not far behind. But for Geordies like Edmondson, their impact on Newcastle is of greater concern.

"It's what they've done to the city as well, which doesn't get reported," Edmondson said. "They've invested a lot of money in the city. For instance, we've got a very successful food bank on a matchday. And, as far as I'm led to believe, one of the directors [the foundation run by minority shareholders the Reuben brothers] actually finds out how much the food banks take and he doubles it for the homeless people of Newcastle and the northeast. The whole thing, in the city and the plans they've got for investment not just in the football club, but the city itself, and the region. It's just brilliant for everybody."

The landscape is changing fast. The last time Newcastle played in the Champions League, in 2003, they were knocked out by Partizan Belgrade in the qualifying round. Back then, the club had a local owner, John Hall, and manager, Bobby Robson.

Doors open in England

Though it's only 20 years ago, such a setup now appears quaint in a league where only a handful of clubs are even majority-owned by English people and the best managers are acquired from abroad.

That the doors of the Premier League, and the UK government, are at least ajar to anyone with enough money, including states with questionable human rights records, is nothing new. But the absence of any significant pushback in the stands or the streets suggests the overwhelming majority of fans are equally happy with the situation.

"The desire for better results and greater investment in the club may have outweighed potential concerns, which is just a shame, as the ownership comes with severe problems for the world of football." said Elsborg. 

Rightly or wrongly, it’s fair to say that 52,000 Geordies didn’t think there was much amiss in the world of football as they poured out on to the sodden streets after a 4-1 win. Their second and third goals came from local lads Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff. This was a win for the Geordies. But it was also a win for the Saudis. It won’t be the last.

Edited by: Chuck Penfold