The controversial takeover of Newcastle remains in doubt, with the World Trade Organisation set to release a report warning the Premier League - but contrary to this, reports elsewhere claim that the WTO do not specifically address the Magpies.
The proposed £300m deal, fronted by businesswoman Amanda Staveley and supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has dominated headlines for a while now. The takeover was initially expected to be waved through after three weeks, but the deal has hit a number of stumbling blocks.
The Newcastle United takeover saga just keeps rumbling on...
— 90min (@90min_Football) May 30, 2020
The potential takeover was said to be in 'serious doubt' towards the end of May, after the WTO ruled the Saudis were behind a pirate satellite TV and illegal streaming service. It was noted at the time that the WTO would release a 130-page final report in mid-June, and conflicting details have now emerged.
The report is due to be released on Tuesday afternoon, and early reports claimed that (via the Shields Gazette) the Premier League is 'warned' over the Newcastle takeover that “[The Premier League] would be acting inconsistently with its own decisions and factual evidence as part of the WTO proceedings” if it were to approve the deal.
Having broken story of WTO ruling into Saudi piracy delaying Newcastle deal in May (https://t.co/Cai6UBTxBN) worth stating
— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) June 16, 2020
1) WTO doesn't directly mention Newcastle contrary to what some say today
2) Got so much abuse for warning of delay, esp when consortium briefing otherwise
However, Sean Ingle of the Guardian has taken to his Twitter to state that the WTO's report doesn't actually directly mention Newcastle. This is further backed up by Tariq Panja of the New York Times, who explains that the WTO has not weighed in specifically on the takeover, instead it deals with the 'specific issue' of piracy and Saudi attempts to block legal action by rights owners.
Appears the WTO itself has not weighed in on the Newcastle deal specifically. It's not the WTO's place to comment on that. The report which is out later deals with the specific issue of piracy and Saudi attempts to block legal action by rights owners, Pl, FIFA, UEFA etc
— tariq panja (@tariqpanja) June 16, 2020
Some early reports of the Newcastle warning came from the BBC's Ian Dennis, but he has since removed the tweet in which he made the claim.
What any of this means for the takeover, frankly, is anyone's guess at this point.
Source : 90min