OpenC

but what if we and marseille are in the champions league final, there'll be undue influence

Public Relations 101 really

Way of the world these days, alas, folk taking offence on other folks' behalf.. but that's been a pretty inglorious episode start to finish like

christ, that's the sort of PR disaster which there's sometimes no coming back from

Rare sighting of Penn in public yesterday http://tse2.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.UGtJgtQZXNNqglLcSyqwKQHaJ1?pid=Api&rs=1 only kidding Penn, your well-spaced and gloomy interjections really add something to this thread

That's the only one for me, but as I posted earlier I don't see how they can distance themselves from all the other politcal angles but use that one Either we're being bought by the embodiment of a nation state with all the political baggage that brings (which the PL appear to have already discounted in their reply to Amnesty), or we're being bought by an investment fund which is separate from the state and can't be deemed to have any influence on other Saudi owners. Can't have it both ways. I can see why this is taking some time, though aye MBS being on the board of PiF is surely an issue you'd think, if he wasn't then you've no direct/indirect link but seeing as he is there's surely a strong argument to tie the fund to the state and he's already proven he can influence any saudi when he locked them all in a hotel and stole loads of their shit complicated indeed Absolutely, and I agree that the SU argument is the most likely one to sink this. The PL appear to have already said that they regard PIF as an investment fund rather than an extension of the state in their reply to Amnesty, though. If their shoulder-shrugging response (which was basically, "pffft, it's a company in Saudi Arabia") was enough for them to dismiss the human rights arguments and dodgy TV allegations, I don't see how they can do anything other than treat the potential of undue influence the same way. All the arguments come down to "he's in charge of the country and he's on the board" and ultimately, either they're dealing with MBS or they're not: he surely can't be used as a material part of the argument in some circumstances but not in others?

That's the only one for me, but as I posted earlier I don't see how they can distance themselves from all the other politcal angles but use that one Either we're being bought by the embodiment of a nation state with all the political baggage that brings (which the PL appear to have already discounted in their reply to Amnesty), or we're being bought by an investment fund which is separate from the state and can't be deemed to have any influence on other Saudi owners. Can't have it both ways. I can see why this is taking some time, though

Mike Ashley buying Sheffield United is what's holding this whole thing up. Soon as that goes through, everything is golden

On the face of it, it seems like the PL would have plenty of support if they denied the takeover. They would have plenty of support, but I don't think that's mojo's point (apologies if I'm speaking for you wrongly mojo). It's more about how deeply entwined foreign politics already are with every aspect of this country, including football. If they knocked this one back for any reason which was even vaguely political, then dozens and dozens of other investments in football and wider society would immediately be called into question.

This is the alpha and the omega of it, really. That said, I can't pretend that I'm not enjoying the thread in the meantime, so long may the panic continue

The same argument being used against human rights abuse and stolen streams applies here too, though - its not Saudi Arabia as a state that's trying to buy, its an investment fund. If you can draw that distinction for all the other 'state owned' arguments then you can with this one too, surely.

All guesswork with a liberal sprinkling of itk and a dash of Staveley Must Have Told Him So It Must Be True

I do that anyway tbh

Alas that's just too far away for people's nerves

It's equally funny that people are writing it off on the basis of nothing but hypothetical and speculative timelines which are based on not very much and apply only in their own minds I'm not sure why I'm finding it so easy to just wait and see what happens but I count myself lucky

I think I would like this thread to drag on for another four weeks more than I'd like a swift resolution to this whole thing, in all honesty

## edit Not actually deleted

been deleted now, obviously because it really was by royal appointment but they didn't want the news broken by their maintenance guys

completely different

Not really. No matter how crappy things have been, there's no point in worrying about invented scenarios

Are you only more doubtful because it hasn't been announced today?

Not particularly unusual in my experience

fine analogy