"Newcastle and the football business: why have politicians bottled out on human rights?" 19 Oct 2021

... the bigger question raised by the Newcastle case is the apparent complicity of UK politicians and political leaders in enabling the takeover...

UK sports minister Nigel Huddleston, when asked about the concerns swirling around the takeover, distanced the government from the affair, saying it should not interfere because football had to be trusted to deal with its own business.

This separation is risible. With its manifest geopolitical ramifications, the deal is anything but a purely football matter. Mohammed Bin Salman reportedly contacted Boris Johnson to warn of consequences if the takeover did not go ahead. His blackmailing presumably had in mind the UK’s post-Brexit hopes of bolstering trade with Saudi Arabia, already rocketing with the UK’s multi-billion arms sales to the regime, which have faced sharp criticism for exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and political conflict in Yemen. Tellingly, the government has refused to disclose details of its discussions with the PL because it could “harm” relations with Saudi Arabia...

...the Saudi-led takeover is of course a national and international policy question of major significance for the British state. Yet Labour’s top players have so far been unable to say whether the party backs or opposes it...

Leader Keir Starmer has said it is not for him as a politician to decide who should own football clubs and has not even expressed a view either way. Along with his shadow sports minister, Allison McGovern, he has outsourced the issue, supporting the creation of an independent regulator to oversee takeovers as part of the government’s football governance review...

The new owners’ words of gratitude to both Conservative and Labour politicians show how confident they are about cajoling their engagement in the very same net.