...

Noon, the Gulf’s largest online retailer, has been Newcastle’s sleeve sponsor for the past two years. Its circular logo is prominent on the club’s shirt, stadium, and website. It will be there again next season — despite multiple allegations unearthed by The Athletic of serious worker mistreatment within the company’s supply chain and shared with Newcastle before the release of the club’s new Adidas kit.

A year before it was announced as Newcastle’s sleeve sponsor, Noon struck a deal with Emirati-owned Manchester City, becoming a “regional partner” of the Premier League champions, and hosting the trophy in its offices. Though Noon is a far less prominent partner at City than it is at Newcastle, not appearing on the shirt or stadium, the relationship is still operative.

Irfan is one of 12 workers from across the Gulf to whom The Athletic has spoken over recent months as part of a special investigation into labour conditions at Noon and, as in Irfan’s case, at agencies that supply Noon with migrant workers...

Although some workers are hired through agencies, Noon still has the responsibility under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to audit its supply chain — it is the one hiring the workers, paying wages, whose business is reliant on their labour...

The accusations raise serious questions for Noon, its partners Newcastle and Manchester City, and the Premier League about the levels of due diligence undertaken, the way sponsorship deals are policed by the league and what action, if any, it will take in light of these findings...

Newcastle and Manchester City completed due diligence processes on their deals and remain supportive of Noon but declined to comment when contacted by The Athletic. PIF also declined to comment. A Noon spokesperson referred to the size, scope and sophistication of the company’s operation, and denied all the claims, saying: “Noon strongly refutes these allegations as grossly inaccurate misrepresentations...

In response, the Premier League declined to formally comment but the view within the organisation is that the identity of sponsorship partners is a matter for individual clubs...