NEWCASTLE SUPPORTS HUMAN RIGHTS ON 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF SAUDI TAKEOVER OF NUFC

Written by John Hird - Co-Founder of NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing 

Newcastle United Fans Against Sportswashing (NUFCFAS) has always been sure that the vast majority of Newcastle United fans support human rights and are appalled at the abuses carried out by the Saudi state, the ultimate owners of Newcastle United.

However, 5 years of Saudi state ownership of Newcastle United has had a negative and retrograde effect on local government, the regional press and fan culture as regards actively and publicly supporting human rights in Saudi Arabia. 

Pre-takeover, Newcastle City Council, Tyneside MPs such as Chi Onwurah and ‘official’ NUFC fan groups all pledged to ‘keep talking about human rights’ - unfortunately this has not happened. Later some of the same MPs accepted freebies from the club.  

Despite expressing generic support for human rights when pushed, Newcastle City Council, MPs and fan groups have refused to take up specific cases and show solidarity with Saudi prisoners of conscience despite being asked to by Saudi and Newcastle human rights groups. This silence on Saudi human rights abuses appears to be in exchange for vague and as yet non-existent investment plans in the region by Saudi Arabia.
 

FAN GROUPS

The fan group ‘Wor Flags’ have organised a display featuring the Newcastle United Chairman, Yasir al-Rumayyan, who as a Saudi minister and right-hand money man of the Saudi dictator Mohammed bin Salman is directly implicated in the crimes of the regime but the same ‘Wor Flags’ have refused to highlight Saudi child ‘offenders’ under threat of execution and Saudi women jailed, abused and tortured just for posting on social media in support of women’s rights. Pre-takeover Wor Flags stated in an interview: “If we felt that the Saudis were abusing women’s rights, we would consider a display featuring a female fan in a black and white top”. Saudi women continue to be terribly oppressed and the 5th anniversary of the takeover is the ideal opportunity for ‘Wor Flags’ to recognise that.

The NUFC pro-LGBTQI+ fan group United with Pride have unfortunately also refused to show any solidarity with the persecuted Saudi gay and lesbian community despite being directly asked to by Saudi LBTQI+ activists. 

Not one ‘official’ NUFC fan group or fanzine has shown any solidarity with the many victims of the owners of the club. James Montague, the writer of Engulfed - How Saudi Arabia Bought Sport and the World quoted Alex Hurst of the True Faith Podcast: ”It’s gone from a hobby - it still is a hobby - but it’s gone from that to a six-figure turning over business with a full-time employee. That wouldn’t happen without the PIF investment (In Newcastle United)” 

Some would draw the conclusion that it appears True Faith and other fanzines have a financial interest in staying silent about Saudi human rights abuses. Other Podcasters and YouTubers have indeed participated in trying to sell trips to Saudi Arabia.  Saudi human rights groups ALQST recently published a Travel Advisory which stated: “To tour operators, bloggers and influencers, we say: Please maintain a responsible balance in your literature and content between, on the one hand, descriptions of the Saudi kingdom’s natural beauty and attractions, and on the other, an urgent concern for the trampled human rights of the oppressed Saudi people. Where possible and safe to do so, highlight critical issues and individuals at risk. Above all, avoid amplifying the vastly powerful and repressive Saudi authorities’ misleading propaganda and helping them to strengthen their stranglehold on free speech and basic liberties.”

NEWCASTLE UNITED SUPPORTER’S TRUST

At the pre-takeover ‘Toon Takeover Town Hall’ hosted by George Caulkin, amongst other speakers we heard from three speakers who at that time were on the board of the Supporter’s Trust, one of whom said that although 97% of members supported the takeover, “it’s not impossible to be enthusiastic about Newcastle United once again being interested in moving forward...and still feeling concerned about [human rights] issues, wherever they occur in the world”.

The second board member to speak also acknowledged the significant support for the takeover amongst the Trust’s membership but said that ‘we exist to be a critical friend of the club.’

And the final Trust board member to feature urged viewers to join the trust on the basis that “we are going to be leading the way. some of the things we’ve heard around Amnesty International... are at the heart of Newcastle United Supporters Trust’s work...and if you think they aren’t – just watch”

We’ve been watching for 5 years….. unfortunately non of those bold commitments such as being a 'critical friend’ regarding human rights to the Saudi state owners of the club have been realised.

We appeal directly to NUST to make a clear statement this October 7th, in support of human rights in Saudi Arabia and to show solidarity with the too many victims of the Newcastle United majority owners.   

COVERAGE OF THE ISSUES BY LOCAL MEDIA

The role of the North East media deserves scrutiny. The Evening Chronicle in particular has acted as an uncritical conduit for PIF propaganda. They have provided no analysis of the ownership’s opaque business practices, numerous broken promises and who they really are. 

Local journalists, with very few exceptions, have played a vital role in ‘normalising’ Saudi state ownership. Who can forget the forelock tugging embarrassment of when the Chronicle used the term “HIS EXCELLENCY” when publishing a letter from the NUFC Chairman? 

WHO IS YASIR AL-RUMAYYAN?

In September 2015, Al-Rumayyan was appointed managing director of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF). He was made chairman of the Saudi Aramco board in September 2019 after Crown Prince Bin Salman stripped Khalid Al-Falih, the energy minister, of his duties when he questioned Bin Salman's directives. The Saudi head dictator, Bin Salman gave Al-Rumayyan a house worth 250 million Saudi riyals (over $60m) near the presidential palace. 

Al-Rumayyan was involved in the transfer of assets to PIF in the wake of the Saudi Arabian government's 2017 purge. On the direct orders of Bin Salman he transferred 20 companies that had been seized by the government into the PIF, including one later alleged to be used by Saudi operatives in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

He is a close acquaintance of Donald Trump.

Al-Rumayyan is the Chairman of Aramco's Board of Directors. The national and international press have reported extensively on the exploitation and horrendous working conditions of Aramco workers: FairSquare investigations revealed that workers in its vast supply chain are exposed to extreme heat, subject to excessive working hours, forced to reside in slum housing, and rarely receive compensation following fatalities and injuries. 

Non of this has been reported in the Evening Chronicle, Journal or TV and radio in the North East. Yet in 2017 and on many other occasions, the Evening Chronicle reported criticism of the then Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley’s use of ‘Zero Hour’ contracts at Sports Direct: Labour leader accuses Mike Ashley of breaking his word over zero hour contracts as he challenges Prime Minister to act Why does the present Newcastle United chairman get a free pass over much more extensive exploitation and human rights abuses he is directly implicated in? 

In truth there has been a complete lack of proper investigative journalism, leading to a failure to serve the community properly. This refusal to engage honestly with the actual situation regarding the Saudi PIF ownership of Newcastle United can be compared to the fast growing NE Bylines who have taken a brave and principled stand on the ownership of Newcastle United by the Saudi PIF and have reported the truth about life in Saudi Arabia consistently in an honest way for the last 5 years.

OUTSIDE THE TYNESIDE BUBBLE

Let’s be completely honest. Outside the Tyneside bubble, we as a club, fanbase and region are perceived as doing next to nothing to condemn the horrendous human rights abuses of the owners and show solidarity with their victims. National journalists and fans of other clubs pointing this out is not hypocrisy, jealousy or victimisation of Newcastle United fans. We are not the victims here. The victims are, amongst others, Saudi women, arrested, jailed, abused and tortured by the Saudi regime just for standing up for the rights we take for granted.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

The 5th anniversary of the Saudi takeover is an opportunity to put some wrongs right and change the perception others have of us. Unless we do, at present there is the dismal prospect of continued acquiesce to owners, who are amongst the worst human rights abusers in the world, are the chief obstructors to meaningful action on climate change and who simply do not care about the club or region and are indeed using their ownership, the fans and the city for their own nefarious purposes. 

Another future would be the local media and political class and official fans groups and individual supporters and citizens of Newcastle, reclaiming their pride and rejecting the notion of having their football club and city merely being used for sportswashing some of the most heinous crimes in modern times. 

The guilty verdict handed out to the UAE owners of Manchester City for serial cheating underlines the position of NUFCFAS. As well as opposing human rights abusing regimes like the UAE and Saudi Arabia using football club ownership as a means to sportswash away their crimes we also oppose any nation state owning our football clubs, be they China or even the USA. The new Independent Football Regulator must immediately instruct the Premier League to ban any country from owning a football club. That would mean the UAE and Saudi dictatorships giving up ownership of Manchester City and Newcastle United football clubs, sooner rather than later. 

SOLIDARITY ACTIONS AROUND OCTOBER 7th

NUFCFAS have launched a campaign highlighting Saudi prisoners of conscience. We’ll be asking fans to put posters on social media calling for the release of Saudi prisoners of conscience such as MANAHEL AL-OTAIBI and ABDUL RAHMAN AL-SADHAN. 

NUFCFAS is specifically calling for various actions around the 5th anniversary of the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United:

1.) Newcastle City Council should act immediately on the 8 points put to them by Saudi human rights group ALQST and meet with Saudi human rights defender Maryam Aldossari on October 7th. As regards the proposed plans for the new NUFC training ground, Newcastle City council should demand more transparency from the club’s owners than we have seen so far. The Newcastle City council leader Colin Ferguson has been sent a joint letter from Saudi human rights group ALQST and NUFCFAS.

2.) Tyneside MPs, who pre-takeover condemned Saudi human rights abuses but who have failed to do so since then, should make public statements on October 7th in support of specific victims of the regime such as, Manahel al-Otaibi, Abdulrahman al-Sadhan and Saudi minors sentenced to death, which is illegal under international law. NUFCFAS urges Tyneside MPs to raise these cases in parliament.

3.) NUFC fanzines, NUST, podcasters and official and unofficial fan groups should carry articles and material in support of those victims of the regime mentioned previously, written by Saudi human rights defenders.

4.) United with Pride should issue a solidarity statement in support of the persecuted Saudi LGBTQI+ community. 

5.) Wor Flags to organise a display on October 17th at the Aston Villa match featuring Saudi child ‘offenders’ and jailed Saudi women. 

Prior to the Saudi state takeover of Newcastle United many expressed the hope that somehow ‘engagement’ with the good people of Newcastle could in someway change the regime. Saudi human rights defenders pointed out this was a naive hope. How right they were unfortunately:

Executions in Saudi Arabia since the takeover of Newcastle United in 2021-

2022 = 196

2023 = 172

2024 = 345 (Record)

2025* = 356 (New Record)

2026 = 159 (So far)

*Newcastle United won the Carabao Cup in 2025 and the Chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan went on the Wembley pitch, grabbed the cup and got the sportswashing photos the regime so desperately wanted. Many Newcastle United fans were uncomfortable with this: WHO AND WHAT ARE WE WINNING FOR EXACTLY?

October 7th, is an opportunity to make good on the pre-takeover promises, and break the silence on Saudi human rights abuses. 

Let’s show the world that Newcastle supports human rights on October 7th!


EVENTS ON OCTOBER 7th

Lobby of Newcastle City Council - Civic Centre at 5pm

NUFCFAS and Amnesty Newcastle  will be canvassing Councillors on their way to a full Council Meeting to have their photograph taken displaying the message "I support human rights in Saudi Arabia”.

Public Meeting - Bridge Hotel at 7pm

Speakers include Dr Maryam Aldossari, the leading Saudi human rights defender and academic who is also an expert on gender inequality in the Middle East and a board member of ALQST for Human Rights.

Other speakers from Amnesty International, NUFCFAS, Stop the Games in Ireland and ex-Newcastle United season ticket holders.

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