Amnesty International have issued a statement saying that they have serious concerns over Saudi based Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his backers, regarding their offer to buy Newcastle United. They question whether the would be investors can meet the stringent outlines of the Premiership owners and directors test, with particular regards to its human rights record. It will be very interesting to see whether these concerns will be heeded, or as ever, they are prepared to turn yet another blind eye. Amnesty International warns Premier League over Newcastle takeover https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52375947
My Daughter in Law works for AI. They are the world's conscience. Given our current preoccupation and the history of the Premier League, FA and EFL it is unlikely that any action will be taken on this issue. The Saudi regime is odious but they sell a lot of oil and buy a lot of arms. Hence, western governments turn a blind eye to activities that they would never condone otherwise.
I used to be an activist for Amnesty International and one of the things we used to do was write to people who had been wrongly imprisoned by certain regimes . This was done firstly to give that person hope and knowledge these someone cares and is looking out for them and secondly to let the authorities in that regime know we are monitoring them and that there could be repercussions s for their actions , If we start turning blind eyes because of sports sponsorship then we may as well say oodbye to society imo because more and more regimes will think it is ok and no one cares. The USA have a secret policy of turning blind eyed to this practice and have been accused of handing over prisoners for torture , unproven as most of these prisoners never get to testify . If this Saudi Prince is allowed to takeover NUFC then we have sold our soles to the devil for money.
Nothing changed if nobody acts that is for sure . The notion it’s always gonna be the same is peddled by the people who have most to gain in status quo’s .Some of the things that some took to be the norm have changed by actions biggest one in my time was Apartheid.
I totally agree, and I applaud you on yer work with Amnesty, but its a problem in Football and will be for years to cum, This will go through, we both know it.
I can’t get my head round how Newcastle United are under more scrutiny for this than the Government are for its dealings with Saudi Arabia. Almost 14 million people voted for the Tory party in the last election. If any one of them voters are criticising Newcastle or the Premier League over this then they’re massive hypocrites. The idea that Newcastle or the Premier League should take some kind of moral stand against this when our own Government are in bed with the Saudi’s & every other sport seems to be taking their money is laughable to me. If our country had no dealings with Saudi Arabia & they’d had no involvement in sports then I could understand it but 14 million are happy to vote for a party that’s selling them weapons to commit genocide & millions are happy to watch Joshua v Ruiz from there so why all of a sudden is it an issue if they own one of our football clubs?
There’s millions didn’t vote for them as well , or aren’t we represented . I personally don’t care who condemns them tbh as long as they are . They are killing people for the slightest thing at the regimes whim . They killed Khashoggi in a foreign country at the behest of the Prince and now there’s a show trial in Saudi with the alleged attackers and I’ll bet my last pound those that were chosen for trial whether there or not have to plead guilty and not protest so their families are safe. There’s no hypocrisy in fighting against this imo .
On the plus side this Newcastle takeover is pushing their human rights abuses to the forefront of the bees,
Sportswashing, like with Man City. Unfortunately everyone turns a blind eye if it means more money. Like Guardiola who wore a ribbon in support of Catalan political prisoners saying it was "for humanity" but shrugged his shoulders when asked about human rights abuses in the UAE.
I agree that they’re a terrible regime. I’ve no problem with you & anyone else who don’t fall into the categories I mentioned been against them taking. I’m only calling out the hypocrites. It’s the media who supported the Tories who are in bed with the Saudi’s I take issue with & anyone at all who voted Tory criticising Newcastle or the premier league. It’s anyone criticising Newcastle or the premier league who was happy to pay their PPV to watch Joshua - Ruiz from Saudi & any of the other sports they’re throwing money at to have over there.
Tbh I would hazard a guess that there’s something we all do that is supporting a terrible regime or basic human rights in our daily lives . I wish it weren’t so and only if delved deeper would we find out . I watch Al Jazeera of which Khashoggi worked for and was killed for and some of the hidden atrocities are unbearable and I know that some of the things that are shown are edited out of our news for different reasons . I don’t take everything as a given from the channel but it does give a different insight into life both here and abroad . I don’t believe all that voted for this Tory govt were ignoring the plight of that country I believe most voted for selfish reasons in domestic policy. Indeed some purporting to be labour aren’t whiter than white when it comes to this sort of policy . A lot of activists I knew came from different backgrounds some Tory mostly Labour or left of centre , Liberal Democrat’s etc etc , I think when it comes to this sort of thing that is when organisations such as Amnesty Int or Greenpeace etc come into their own and campaign cross party as although labour are the nearest large political party we have in this country to the sympathies of these groups they are not without faults by any means and we need these groups to campaign whatever party is in power and we need support from any political orientated individual who sees this human abuse for what it is which is criminal.
Are they any worse than the butchers who own Man City? I saw a horrific video about what the upper echelons of that family are capable of. If they are fit and proper, the Saudis will be too. That's modern football. Blood money proffered by vile regimes, and servile acceptance of such in exchange for a Carabao Cup and third place in Europa League group J, behind Malmo and Sassuolo but ahead of Ludogorets. Would I be the same? Probably, in truth. Sell your integrity for a League Cup, even if the cup is full of dissenters' blood? I reckon so, and I am not alone in that.
