Premier League clubs have voted emphatically against member teams agreeing remunerative sponsorship deals with companies linked to Newcastle United’s new ownership group.
The Saudi Arabia-backed Public Investment Fund (PIF) completed the £305m acquisition of the north east club last week, ending a miserable spell under former owner Mike Ashley.
The news was met with jubilation by the Newcastle fanbase as they waved goodbye to the hugely unpopular Ashley after a stagnating 14 years for the football club despite the Saudi’s poor human rights record.
It has been a hugely controversial takeover and one that other Premier League clubs clearly weren’t supportive of as they immediately voted on the topic on Monday. 18 of the member clubs voted against PIF-involved sponsorship deals, while Newcastle voted for and Manchester City – who have used similar tactics in order to swere Financial Fair Play rules – decided to abstain.
As such, a one-month ban has been enforced to prevent clubs from penning sponsorship deals with any company that has an association with the PIF while the Premier League investigates the matter further.
Financial Fair Play rules dictate that clubs can make a maximum loss of £105m over a rolling three-year period and a number of Europe’s top clubs have sponsorship deals with companies linked to their own respective sponsorship group.
Manchester City are the most high-profile English club to deploy this strategy with their Etihad sponsorship, which has links to their Abu Dhabi owners. They were hit with a two-year ban from European football for breaching FFP rules but saw the decision overturned at a Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal last year.
Many expect Newcastle to follow something close to City’s blueprint as they attempt to establish themselves as one of the giants in English and European football once again. If you are interested in betting on Newcastle’s future, be sure to check out Inkedin first. Their site features the best in class of the very best online betting sites, whether it be sportsbooks or football betting.
A large number of Newcastle fans were seen attending Sunday’s 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at St. James’ Park in traditional Arabic clothing and the club have released a statement asking supporters to refrain from doing so in future matches.
The statement read: “Newcastle United is kindly asking supporters to refrain from wearing traditional Arabic clothing or Middle East-inspired head coverings at matches if they would not ordinarily wear such attire.
“A number of supporters have recently attended St. James’ Park wearing associated head coverings and robes, marking the takeover of the club by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media.
“No-one among the new ownership group was in any way offended by the attire of the fans who chose to celebrate in this way. It was a gesture that was acknowledged as positive and welcoming in its intent.
“However, there remains the possibility that dressing this way is culturally inappropriate and risks causing offence to others.
“All visitors to the club are, as always, encouraged to wear whatever is the norm for their own culture or religion, continuing to reflect the broad and rich multicultural communities and groups from which the club proudly draws its support.”
Newcastle’s new ownership group will now have to make their first significant act in choosing Steve Bruce’s replacement after the two parties parted ways by mutual consent on Wednesday.
