SAUDI SPORTWASHING REDUCING TO SAND?

Written by John Hird

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

OZYMANDIAS BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

The grand and boastful plans by the Saudi state owners of Newcastle United could be reduced to sand as the regime’s numerous projects are pared back due to financial restraints.

Saudi financial problems

News of a gathering financial storm for the human rights abusing Saudi state does not bode well for their sportswashing project at the club. 

On January 27th the Middle East Eye reported the regime is publicly asking for money to fund the regime’s numerous schemes:

“…the PIF and Ministry of Investment, along with other government entities, held a meeting on the Red Sea coast with some of the richest families, where they were asked to ‘collaborate’ on more projects and partner more readily with foreigners eyeing investments in Saudi Arabia.”

MEE also reported that Saudi Arabia had suspended construction of the Mukaab, a giant cube-shaped structure that was set to be built in Riyadh. Saudi authorities also announced that Trojena, a planned ski resort in Neom, was being downsized and would no longer host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.

Anti ‘corruption’ purge and murder of Khashoggi

When Mohamed bin Salman was consolidating his power in 2017, the Crown Prince had wealthy families corralled at the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, in what was characterised as a corruption purge by him, where they were ordered to pay billions of dollars to the kingdom.

The list included high-flyers such as billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal and lesser-known royals. Those who did not pay were moved to prisons. The Wall Street Journal reported that some were repeatedly beaten.

Newcastle United Chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan was involved in the same controversial “anti-corruption” purge which included the transfer of assets on behalf of the Crown Prince. In 2021 the Guardian revealed that internal Saudi documents filed to a civil court in Canada showed that a close aide to Prince Mohammed ordered al-Rumayyan – who is formally referred to in memos as “his excellency” and the “supervisor” of the PIF – to transfer 20 companies to the sovereign wealth fund as part of the “anti-corruption” campaign.

One of 20 seized companies, the documents show, was a charter jet company that was later alleged to have been used in the Saudi plot to kill Jamal Khashoggi.

It is to be hoped that during the present financial difficulties for MBS that the Newcastle United Chairman is not implicated in another regime shakedown for cash!


The many jobs of the Newcastle United Chairman

The financial problems facing the regime are real and serious and the Newcastle United Chairman is at the heart of them. Al-Rumayyan is also Chairman of Saudi Aramco, the world’s most valuable listed company, a position he has held since September 2019. He has also held the position of Chairman of Ma’aden since September 2019. Governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia since 2015, leading all areas of operation of the sovereign wealth fund, which sits at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s (failing) Vision 2030 and economic transformation strategy, also serving as Advisor to the General Secretariat of the Cabinet and is currently a board member of Uber Technologies Inc., Saudi Industrial Development Fund, SoftBank Group Corp. and ARM Limited respectively. Amazingly he still has time to be chairman of LIV Golf and to play frequent rounds with his friend Donald Trump.

Plunging oil prices are forcing the Public Investment Fund to slash spending, threatening mega-projects, foreign investment and jobs – with global consequences for contractors, economies and markets.

The PIF is consequently slowing down and cutting back, with serious implications for the more than 13 million foreign workers in Saudi Arabia and the many hundreds of companies that rely on the Saudi economy to keep going.”

NEOM cancelled and spending cuts

The World Finance website outlined the situation in stark terms:

“(MBS)….ordered spending cuts of at least 20 percent across those parts of its portfolio where it can exercise control over budgets, which covers investments in around 100 different companies ranging from the Saudi start-up airline Riyadh Air to Newcastle United Football Club. The result has been layoffs, hiring freezes and project delays.”

“A $5bn contract at Neom was cancelled the day before the signing ceremony was due to take place. A central part of the Neom project is a linear city called ‘the Line,’ originally billed as 170km long. After a host of delays, and amid claims reported in the Wall Street Journal of huge salaries for imported management and a toxic work culture, the initial stage of the project has been scaled back to just five kilometres to be completed by 2030.” MBS’s personal project has been reduced from the widely overambitious Line to almost a dot!

World Finance went on:

“There have also been reports of cash flow problems leading to payment delays for contractors, particularly in the construction sector, with one leading international contractor reportedly claiming it was owed $800m by Saudi clients. The company blamed prolonged payment delays as a significant factor in its decision to scale back operations in the kingdom. One big European construction company has allegedly withdrawn from the Saudi market altogether, blaming payment risks and financial uncertainties.”

Oil prices plunge

The plunging price of oil opens up the regime to uncertain times. The International Monetary Fund has declared that oil needs to be $91 a barrel to balance Saudi Arabia’s budget. But oil has not been above $90 a barrel since August 2022.

The Chairman of Newcastle United in his role at Aramco was forced to reduce prices because of falling demand and an oversupply among Opec, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

All this puts into perspective and perhaps explains the delay in a decision on a new stadium for Newcastle United. The regime committed to building 15 new stadiums in Saudi Arabia in the dodgy deal between the President of FIFA, Infantino and MBS when the 2034 World Cup was awarded to Saudi Arabia.  

Already several architecture firms awarded contracts to build stadiums in Saudi have been asked to resubmit plans because their designs have been deemed too expensive, and contractors due to start work next year have been told the build will not begin on time.

No new stadium in Newcastle

Given the problems MBS is having building stadiums in Saudi Arabia, the following statement in the NUFC fanzine, The Mag, regarding a new stadium for Newcastle United looks rather naive:

“We build the biggest damn stadium possible, giving us more money and the opportunity for sustained success for the next 100 years. The San Siro was built in 1926 and the Milan teams have been reaping the benefits of the stadium for 100 years.”

“Football is brutal and Saudi Arabia PIF are stalling with Newcastle United.”

Joshua Cole in the Football Grounds Guide explained the situation:

“Newcastle United’s long-awaited stadium plans have hit a fresh roadblock, with club sources confirming that discussions over the future of St James’ Park remain unresolved and effectively “suspended” for now.”

He went on:

“Despite supporters and even senior players urging progress on improving the club’s aging home, proposals to either expand the iconic ground or build a new stadium continue to stall behind closed doors.”

Midfielder Joelinton even called for improvement to the facilities, especially the training ground, during an interview with the Daily Mail.

However, Newcastle’s CEO, David Hopkinson, acknowledged at a recent fan event that a final decision on stadium plans “is not close to being made”, even as behind-the-scenes discussions with the Saudi-led PIF ownership continue. 

Given the Saudi regime’s financial problems, why are fans still expecting the Saudi owners to invest in a new super stadium in Newcastle when they are cutting back drastically on projects and even the proposed stadiums in Saudi Arabia are now in doubt?

Newcastle Council’s collaboration with Saudi regime

Political representatives on Tyneside should do some soul searching about their role in facilitating the Saudi state takeover of the city’s historic football club. As NUFCFAS has pointed out previously, Newcastle City Council also voiced public support for the deal. On 4th August 2020, Chief Executive Pat Ritchie made a public offer of assistance to help complete the takeover on the following basis: : “members of the consortium spearheading this deal had made a clear long-term commitment to the city to help drive growth and regeneration… our city centre development zones are ready for investment and the partners involved in this deal were keen to work with us to unlock commercial activity.”

Towards the beginning of a letter to Staveley written shortly after the takeover’s eventual completion, Ritchie writes that Staveley had “outlined [her] intention to develop a five-year business plan including key milestones for 100 days and 1 year to be presented to the Board for approval”.

Over four years on from the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United, the promised investment in the city has failed to materialise. Fans have a right to ask - what happened to the five year plan and promised investment in the region?

Human rights abuses and executions continue

Furthermore, Tyneside’s political representatives, including Newcastle City Council and the media have serious questions to answer. Why did they think it was a good idea to get into bed with the Saudi regime which has one of the worst human rights records on the planet? 

Lest we forget, a Newcastle MP and a NUFC fan group even suggested at the time of the takeover that the regimes’ engagement with Newcastle and the city could in some way help improve the situation in Saudi Arabia: United with Pride had stated it looked forward to working with the owners. The group accepted that the state was "one of the least tolerant" in the world over equality, but said the deal could have a "positive influence”.

“Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah said she hoped it was "a sign for change””. The MP had spoken out against human rights abuses before the takeover but has had little to say since then. She has however accepted free tickets to matches and events from the Saudi state owned club.
 

BBC October 8, 2021

Four years on in 2025 the Saudi regime which owns Newcastle United broke its own gruesome record for executions when a total of 356 were beheaded by the government in which club Chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan sits as a minister.  

Unfortunately, as Saudi LGBT+ advocates have pointed out in appeals to United with Pride: “LGBT+ people face persecution, imprisonment, and even the death penalty” in Saudi Arabia.

In a hypocritical twist, Newcastle City Council and surprisingly the football club have an agreed policy against Modern Day Slavery, when the same regime which owns our club has created a hell on earth for workers in Saudi Arabia.

Kate Wagner’s article in The Nation highlighted the human cost of The Line:

“In 2021, the development occasioned a horrific program of forced displacement for members of the Huwaitat tribe and the imprisonment—even execution—of anyone who dared to resist. A few years later, an ITV documentary revealed that more than 21,000 workers were estimated to have died or disappeared under Saudi Vision 2030, the massive urbanisation program that counts Neom as its crown jewel.” 

Seriously, should fan groups, councillors and MPs have any sort of relationship with the regime which owns our club when it inflicts such misery on workers? Why isn’t the local media exposing this? 

Wagner’s comment on the collapse of MBS’s vision may also end up being the obituary for the ‘imaginary’ new St James’ Park stadium and the unethical ownership of Newcastle United by the human rights abusing and increasingly unreliable Saudi dictatorship. 

“Year by year, with little progress made save for the piles prematurely driven into the sand, it became increasingly clear that the damn thing would never be built - that it was what we in the biz call ‘paper architecture’.”

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