Ankles Bennett

That's a stupid comment!

This issue that the PL has of MBS being chairman of PIF is rubbish. I mean Prince Charles is commander in chief of the armed forces but he doesn't exactly lead them into battle does he. This is really about the other member clubs objecting to the takeover and nothing else and not making a decision is the only way they can cover that up. A rejection would be appealable and as they say "the truth will out"!!!

Now that the takeover is unlikely I cant really give a toss who we sign. Who ever we sign it will be bargain basement .

Is has nothing to with us. Plus would we be at all suprised if it was true? Probably believe it especially if this intelligence officer has defected to Qatar/sold state secrets to Qatar. It might even be the real reason Khashoggi was assassinated because he was in Qatar's back pocket and attempting to destabilize the saudi state through the media. But that's just speculation on my part.

Looks like the Qatari's are at it again. Some ex Saudi Intelligence officer says MBS tried to have him assassinated in Canada.

It seems pretty obvious that it's the other member clubs that are stopping this takeover and have obviously just told the PL to not give a decision so there can be no appeal against a rejection.

The PL tests were not applied with such rigour back then I am guessing, perhaps because there wasn't really a clique of nationally approved top clubs. Liverpool were struggling so the door had to be left open for them to be taken over by a state backed owner if one came along. Also I would reckon CL money has probably widened the gap since City took over, so the current PL top clubs won't want anyone else joining the party. Mansoor set up a company and installed a minion as the owner of the company and then transferred ownership of man city to that company so he isn't even a director of that company. Can't understand why Amanda didn't do the same here with PIF, although that's probably what they intended doing once they had bought Newcastle. However, the PL have put a roadblock on that by not allowing the purchase to proceed to that stage, if indeed that was the intention. I mean Mansoor is the deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, as is MBS in the KSA so there is no real difference between them as far as I can see. One is allowed to buy a PL club, but to then effectively sever all ties to that club while, PIF are not allowed to do the same. Perhaps that would be the answer. Set up a company with Amanda/Reuben Bros as the joint owners and tell the PL if the sale is allowed the club will be transferred to that company and put under the sole ownership of that company, with PIF representation on the board, and all 3 parties only having joint voting rights.

Very good, but what the PL seems to have completely overlooked in all this is even if the PL accepted MBS as a director of PIF, as the Crown Prince, does he really have the inclination to get involved in the politics of running a football club, when he has a massive country to run. Anyway why doesn't PIF set up a limited company in Al Rumayan's name and make him the owner/managing director/Chairman of that company and have that company buy us, in much the same way Sheikh Mansoor did with Man City. That would sever any direct link to the SA government and MBS. Everyone knows that the club belongs to Mansoor, and if he told them to sell the club to a third party and place the money into his bank account it would be done.

step 2 is wrong. According to Staveley it’s the PL request to put SA as director. step 2 is wrong. According to Staveley it’s the PL request to put SA as director. I will bow down to a more knowledgable person who can show me in company law where a country can be a director. You are hanging on to this as if it’s gospel when it is so clearly not right it’s laughable. As I said all parties except PL are saying this is the case. PL is silenced. Go ahead. You are wasting my time. Some things make sense and somethings don’t make sense. That doesn’t make sense and when there are solicitors involved they will know what can and cannot be done. So while those words came out of her mouth, they were said for impact. The only thing that makes sense is that they want the SA government to be the owners. What you you are suggesting doesn’t make sense. So you can continue to believe the misinformation at face value or try to make some sense out of the nonsense that is said about this deal. So in demanding SA becomes a director, the PL are asking consortium to do the impossible because a country cannot be a director, and the PL have effectively backed them into a corner that they can't get out of, because the PL are saying that if you don't do what we request, you have put the PL in a position where we can't complete the O&D test. Its a win win situation for the PL whichever way you look at it.

Is it worth fans e mailing the PIF to demonstrate our unwavering support for the takeover. It can't harm and might persuade them to say bollocks lets force the PL to give a decision. If the PL continue to sit on there hands and not give a decision, the publicity will tarnish the reputation of the PL.

Having forced the Saudi's to walk away it will be interesting to see if BeOutq is suddenly resurrected once the new PL season starts.

Dream scenario to stuff it up the EPL is to see PIF take over AC Milan and then buy all the top players from the EPL so everyone wants to watch SeriA rather than the dull dross served up by the EPL.

Instead of moaning to each other about Ashley and how you guys are never going back you should be bombarding the EPL with e mails complaining about the lack of confidence you all have in the EPL by subjecting the consortium to far too rigorous a test that simply does not exist in the O&D test..

What's left, 1 year? Its not worth £500m. The buyers would be investing more than that year 1, then on and on, unlocking a 35m viewer market. Those right treble with KSA being the one of the biggest markets in the deal. Don't forget the draw we have as a club on viewing figures as well. When we drop out the league viewing figures tumble. We have more of a voice than you'd think. When fans are allowed in if we have banners at every home match calling the pl corrupt in front of the tv cameras it wont get us anywhere but be nice to see them squirm with embarrassment and just might have an effect on their ability to sell the EPL tv rights.

So when we play Liverpool and spurs at SJP any takers that there wont be any hot water for showers !!!

This OD test is far too stringent. Let's say it was passed and MBS then starts meddling in issue regarding nufc. All the EPL has to do is disqualify the club from membership of the EPL. Sorted

Come on now, its finished. Maybe in the original iteration, but it's not done. No way. Of course its finished. Saying what you want to happen won't make it happen and will just consign you to more heartache. Just accept its over and move on.

But now not making a decision is potentially going to cost the PL a minimum of £17m. How's that? Ashley gets the 17m deposit, not them The PL's actions, or lack of them, have caused the consortium to lose the £17m deposit. They would've got it back if they'd refused the test. So they will have a case to take the PL to court to recover that money as an absolute minimum. So the PL will conclude there O&D test and refuse the takeover in order to avoid a legal battle for the £17m in which case PIF gets their £17m back. But now the PL have given a decision PIF has grounds to appeal that refusal. Could it go to a Court of Arbitration for Sport? If so they may find the PL reasons for rejecting to be unreasonable.

By the same token this applies to Man City and Sheik Mansoor as well. Who can say that MBS doesn't have the power to control the Sheffield United owner?

Fair play to the number of posters on here who predicted that only to be shot down. I guess it’s proven to be massive naivety on my part but I just didn’t foresee an entity like the PIF walking away in response to something like that. But, if what AS says is correct, the PL wanted KSA not PIF to be named as the majority director, which 'is impossible'. So with the PL refusing to approve or refuse them and with no timescale for any sort of decision, then the uncertainty going on just ends up harming the club and its ongoing plans. If the PL haven't been made formally aware of the withdrawal yet, in theory the tests are still on going. Of course the headlines will have made it back to the PL, and perhaps this will force a dialogue with them asking what is happening. Who knows, perhaps a dialogue + adverse publicity will engineer a way through to suit all parties, and it could be back on. #Clutching I suspect the PLwanted the saudi state to be named as a director so they had a solid case to reject it on the basis of their failure to combat the tv piracy. Clearly they couldn't pin that on PIF as a director. Effectively the PLtried to maneuver the consortium to a position that gave them grounds to reject instead of accepting PIF as a director.

They will probably invade Qatar now. They nearly did just that some time ago, but were persuaded not to by the Trump administration, I think it was shortly after he got elected.

Fucking hell!!!!. The cats gone missing since last night and now this. God doesn't like s geordies does he.....

This is exactly what the top 6 and their lap dog the EPL wanted. They didn't want any competition and the EPL just rolled over and sat on their hands until PIF et al got fed up waiting. Personally I am furious with the EPL. Not only have they concined us the fans to another 13 years of Ashley but the city and region have lost mega millions of investment. I'm watching the EFL from now on f***k the closed shop EPL.

So assuming the takeover does go ahead, before the transfer window slams shut, and money is no object, who do we try to buy? Kane? Messi? Ronaldo?

Gov giving a free pass to block it. I disagree, in my view its the government distancing themselves from any involvement in the EPL decision making. If the KSA thought for one minute the UK government had directed the EPL to block the takeover, I have no doubt the arms deal with KSA would be cancelled forthwith, which would then have a detrimental effect upon the UK economy at a time when the government is doing all it can to attract investment due to Covid19. This is also why they probably want the takeover to go ahead, but can't come out and publicly support it for fear of attracting adverse publicity from Amnesty etc for apparently supporting the regime despite its human rights abuses and TV piracy. In other words the government is sitting on the fence quite happy to see the EPL take the rap whichever way this takeover goes.