Saudi bid for English Premier League soccer team has support of fans, opposition of human rights advocates

It’s been more than six weeks since a soccer ball was last kicked in the English Premier League (EPL). Liverpool FC and its star Egyptian striker and folk hero Mo Salah had been within a whisker of securing the championship title when the gates to stadiums were locked following the novel coronavirus outbreak. With the terraces empty, and millions of football fans around the world lamenting the loss of their beloved game, passions have been redirected to competition off the pitch.

There have been lively discussions about millionaire soccer stars taking pay cuts if clubs are furloughing lesser-paid staff and about abandoning competition altogether or playing matches without fans in attendance. The most-heated arguments, however, have revolved around an effort to buy one of the league’s most famous clubs. 

The Saudi Public Investment Fund is widely reported to be the majority partner in a consortium that has launched a $380 million bid to acquire Newcastle United. The consortium is led by PCP Capital Partners, headed by the British financier Amanda Staveley and her husband, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, an Iranian. The prospect of an EPL club in the hands of a Saudi state-run enterprise chaired by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has caused an outcry among human rights supporters.

Middle Eastern ownership of football clubs is nothing new in the West. In Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have, respectively, secured what have become two of the richest and most successful soccer clubs worldwide. Farhad Moshiri, a British Iranian businessman, owns a majority share in Everton, and Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad of Saudi Arabia personally owns Sheffield United. The prospect of a state-owned Saudi buyer appears to be in a different league, however.