NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL SHOULD SPEAK UP ON SAUDI HUMAN RIGHTS BEFORE CUP FINAL

Written by John Hird

Around the time Saudi human rights advocates met Newcastle City Council leader Karen Kilgour on February 18th, news leaked out which casts doubt on the Saudi state’s commitment to maintain their ownership of Newcastle United. 

An article in Intelligence Online  (a publication which specialises in Global intelligence) revealed that Newcastle United Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan is facing a power struggle due to disagreements on policy for the PIF with Turki Al-Sheikh who heads the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) and it is rumoured the PIF is considering the sale of Newcastle United. 

Yasir al Rumayyan, also a sitting Saudi minister and board member of Aramco, manages PIF's assets worth $1,000bn, directly answering to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and implementing development plans. Being directly answerable to the de-facto head of the Saudi state should disqualify Al-Rumayyan as a Premier League Chairman.  

Intelligence Online say a disagreement between the Newcastle Chairman and the head of the GEA has emerged over negotiations to bring the PIF into the capital of Dazn's rival BeIN Sports, a sports streaming group founded by Saudi rival Qatar. 

The important revelations are as follows:

• The Newcastle Chairman and the GEA head have disagreed over PIF's investment in BeIN Sports.

• Qatar is seeking divestment of its costly sports investments.

• MbS, under Turki al-Sheikh's guidance, has decided to invest in Dazn, which is a slap in the face for Al-Rumayyan.

• PIF may sell its 80% stake in Newcastle United. David Reuben and Simon Reuben, minority shareholders in the club, have reportedly already been sounding out investors to replace the PIF.

Also, according to Intelligence Online, Al-Sheikh has been increasing his activities in events management and other entertainment contracts, from the Riyadh Season's concerts and boxing to contracts to promote the Saudi Pro football league. If the PIF/Saudi state do decide to sell their stake in Newcastle United it would be a big blow to the prestige of Yasir al-Rumayyan. 

There are also questions on business ethics regarding the role of Carla DiBello in the Saudi regime’s takeover of Newcastle United which show that the whole deal was not what it seemed.  

Amanda Staveley had to pay Carla DiBello to get access to Al Rumayyan. When it came to complete the takeover it turned out Staveley did not have this money, and she had to borrow £10m from Mike Ashley, £2m of which was passed straight onto DiBello as her commission for the deal.

DiBello is famous for being Kim Kardashian’s friend and is not remotely qualified to advise the governor of a sovereign wealth fund on potential investments, however it is well known and has been widely reported that she plays an advisory role for Al Rumayyan, introduces business to him, and gets payments in return for acting as a kind of fixer.

Following Freedom of Information requests by an NUFCFAS member it was shown that the previous Newcastle City Council leader and officials effectively gave free PR advice to the club’s owners, attempting to facilitate the regime’s acceptance on Tyneside while ignoring requests to raise human rights issues with the owners. At one stage the council asked the club for £23m to help fund a free meal for every child in the city every day for a year while at the same time the Saudi regime had nine minors on death row under threat of execution for ‘crimes’ committed when they were children.

This news raises questions about the true nature of Amanda Staveley’s relationship with the PIF in that she needed to go through a fixer to speak to Al-Rumayyan and she may never have been in a position to facilitate investment into the region and instead of embarrassingly and effectively giving Staveley the keys to the city for almost three years to try and get hold of Saudi money, the council might have been better off sending DiBello messages on instagram!

After three years of Saudi state ownership of Newcastle United, when most elected representatives on Tyneside and official fan groups have refused to talk about human rights, despite promising to do so pre-takeover, it was welcome that Karen Kilgour agreed to meet Saudi human rights activists to listen to what they think the council, MPs and fans can do to support them. However, it was disappointing that Karen Kilgour refused to have her photo taken with the Saudi human rights delegation.

The visit of the ALQST for Human Rights delegation to Newcastle City council was an important first step to get Newcastle City council, elected representatives and fan groups to break their silence on human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. 

ALQST is an independent NGO established in 2014 by Saudi Arabian human rights defender Yahya Assiri for the purpose of defending and promoting human rights in Saudi Arabia. ‘Al-qist’ means ‘justice’ in Arabic, and a passion for justice lies at the heart of their work. They take a consistent human rights-based approach based on international human rights law and international standards, and defend fundamental rights for all without any distinction of race, colour, sex, language, religion or national or social origin. They conduct on-the-ground research, engage in international legal and public advocacy, and campaign on behalf of victims of human rights abuses. The delegation will include Lina al-Hathloul and Fawzia al-Otaibi both of whose sisters have been jailed, tortured and abused by the regime which owns Newcastle United. Their visit to Newcastle was an opportunity for elected representatives on Tyneside and NUFC fans to do the right thing and support the victims of the ultimate owners of the City’s football club. 

The ALQST delegation put eight suggestions to Karen Kilgour to ensure the council publicly supports human rights in Saudi Arabia. The fourth demand stated: “ ‘Adopt’ prisoners such as Manahel al-Otaibi and Mohammad al-Rabiah, and the minors sentenced to death. Publicise their cases and raise them with the Chairman of Newcastle United, Yasir al-Rumayyan.” Newcastle United will be playing Liverpool at Wembley on March 16th and no doubt the Newcastle Chairman and other regime figures will be attending as it is an ideal occasion to further their sportswashing agenda. Therefore, it is important that the council acts on some of the demands before the Carabao Cup final to show that receiving the Saudi human rights delegation was not just a tick box exercise and that they are serious about supporting the victims of the regime which owns Newcastle United.

It is also urgent that North East and national media clarify the PIF/Saudi state’s plans for our football club. They could start by asking if the Reuben brothers are, as reported, looking for investment partners.

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