How Newcastle United and the Premier League landed in the middle of a toxic mix of moral, ethical, legal and governance issues

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has cast a new light on the fractious relationship in the Middle East that signals a new direction for the kingdom

The sale of Newcastle United is set to be finalised by 1 May (Getty)

The potential acquisition of Newcastle United by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is in the spotlight due to the toxic mix of moral, ethical, legal and governance issues a takeover would raise.

Having researched the intersection of sport, business and politics in the Middle East for over a decade, the move seems at odds with the oil-rich Gulf state's usual policy and strategy.

For the past 10 years, Saudi Arabia has been seeking to transform itself, not least economically. This has seen all manner of blockbuster projects being instigated, including the construction of mega-cities designed to position the kingdom as being a leader in environmental improvement, artificial intelligence and healthcare.

At the same time, the government in Riyadh has engaged sport as an instrument through which to build businesses, attract tourists and address domestic issues such as gender segregation.

In this context, staging sports events has been Saudi Arabia's number one priority, which is why we have seen the likes of Spain's Supercopa heading East.

Football has been on the agenda, though buying overseas clubs certainly hasn’t. The intention has been to improve the country’s own game through, for instance, the privatisation of its top, state-owned clubs.

At the same time, players have been sent abroad, notably to Spain in an attempt to improve performance.

There’s something about the deal that doesn’t add-up.

For a start, Saudi Arabia is neither Qatar nor Abu Dhabi; the latter two can barely muster five million people between them, and both are situated in strategically vulnerable geographic positions. They fear invasion: from Iran, Isis and, in truth, Saudi Arabia itself.

Hence they mitigate risk by moving some of their assets off-shore. This is one reason why we have seen Abu Dhabi buy Manchester City and engage the city council to construct real estate projects.

In France, Qatar has bought Paris Saint-Germain and lavished huge financial resources on the club enabling it to buy famous players.

At the same time, the country has created its own international television channel – Al Jazeera – and a sport related off-shoot in Bein Sports.

Saudi Arabia is, however, a different proposition: geographically bigger and with a population of 35 million. Alongside Iran, it is one of the Gulf region’s powerhouses. It therefore doesn’t need to mitigate risk in the same way as its small neighbours.

Abu Dhabi and Qatar have some lessons to teach the ruling family in Riyadh, particularly in the way that sport can be used to create and project soft power.

Saudi Arabia’s problematic international reputation borne of, for example, the war in Yemen, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and support for austere Wahhabi Islam, provides fertile ground for the country to use football as a means through which to repair a significantly tarnished global image.

Such subterfuge wouldn’t be new territory for a kingdom that is currently involved in a bitter feud with Qatar. Among its jingoist noises, Saudi Arabia has threatened to dig a channel between the two bordering countries and fill it with nuclear waste.

The fractiousness of relations between the two nations is one reason why in recent days Bein Sports has made protestations about the Newcastle deal to the British government. For the last two years, a pirate channel – BeoutQ – has been stealing the Qatari station’s content, including Premier League matches.

Evidence clearly indicates that BeoutQ is operating out of Saudi Arabia, some even speculate that it has direct connections to the government. Many in sport have condemned the actions of the rogue outfit, including the likes of Uefa and La Liga.

In what seems to be yet another dimension of the proxy war being fought between Doha and Riyadh, Bein Sports has now complained to the Premier League about the proposed takeover of Newcastle.

One might imagine that the body's officials would want to prevent a deal involving an entity that is potentially complicit in the theft of its broadcast content.

The problem is that its ‘Fit and Proper Person Test’ appears to be the obvious, and possibly the only, way for the Premier League to scrutinise Saudi Arabia’s apparent intention to acquire Newcastle.

However, the FFPT is essentially a financial assessment rather than a measure either of an intending buyer’s illicit activities or of their ethics and morals.

All of which adds to the complexity of a saga that continues to be unfathomable, perplexing and which seems to roll on and on. As such, it seems legitimate to ask, which is more likely to happen: Saudi Arabia to buy the club or Joelinton scoring another goal for Newcastle?

Simon Chadwick is Director of Eurasian Sport at EMLYON Business School in Paris. He has been researching and writing about sport in Asia for more than ten years, and has a specific interest in the intersection of sport, business and politics.