Various: N-O has lost the plot over potential end of Mike Ashley's tenure

[Dokko]

Miguel thought he was untouchable after the last round of complaints weren’t taken seriously but it seems this one has at least made him wind his neck in a bit.

 

Someone has complained to the press association or whatever governs them, I expect he’ll also get some kind of warning from them as well.

 

Good. He’s baited easy targets on twitter and it’s backfired spectacularly, fingers crossed more shit is heading his way.

 

 

[Wullie]

You actually believe he's received a warning for using a common turn of phrase? You're all as fucking mad as each other. This thing has driven you all off the cliff.

[Whitley mag]

Newcastle’s takeover and the politics of sport

 

Whatever Mohammed bin Salman’s motives in buying Newcastle United are, excitable fans are handing him legitimacy, and the deal shows the need for further study into states ‘sport-washing’ their reputations, Simon Chadwick writes.

 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the principal focus for sport has been upon ensuring the survival of teams, competitions, and events. As countries have locked down, revenues from ticket sales and television rights have dried up, putting many sports organisations at risk of financial ruin.

 

Whilst many have looked ahead with a sense of dread, there has been one English football club that has not. For much of the last three months, the Premier League’s Newcastle United has apparently been on the cusp of a big money sale to oil-rich Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

 

The rumoured deal is estimated to be worth in the region of £300 million, a sum that has had Newcastle fans aghast in anticipation of big-name player signings, and the club’s sellers relieved to be disposing of a troublesome asset. However, others with a stake in the deal have been considerably less upbeat about the prospect of it happening.

 

The Premier League itself has been grappling with a conundrum. It seems stranded between approving a deal that didn’t immediately appear to breach any of its rules, whilst at the same time confronting the prospect of sanctioning a transaction involving a country that has recently been accused of pirating its content.

 

At the same time, many critics of the prospective takeover have raised concerns about Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights, its treatment of women, and the war it has waged in Yemen. Hatice Cengiz, fiancé of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has even written personally to the Premier League asking it to stop Riyadh’s purchase of the Newcastle club.

 

Against this backdrop, there have been widespread claims that Saudi Arabia’s government is only buying the club to help cleanse the country’s tarnished image, a practice commonly referred to as ‘sports-washing’. This is commonly conceived of as being the attempt by a country to divert attention away from crimes and misdemeanours.

 

However, sports-washing somehow seems to be an unsatisfactory label given the attention the proposed United deal has generated. Rather than turning attention away from the country, recent developments have instead shone an intense light on its controversial activities.

 

Indeed, given the near-total absence of football from television screens and mobile devices during lockdown, the case for stopping the Saudi deal for Newcastle has been given considerable oxygen.

 

Some people have even suggested that the government in Riyadh has been taken aback by the voracity of criticism the proposed takeover has generated. If the Public Investment Fund’s intention was to artificially create a rosy glow around Saudi Arabia and Newcastle United, then it has had the opposite effect.

 

Past studies of sports-washing unfortunately yield no published scientific work on the subject, which suggests a significant opportunity for researchers to explore what is a relatively new and under-explored phenomenon.

 

As a benchmark for possible studies of sports-washing, there is a considerable body of work examining ‘greenwashing’, which is when a company creates a false impression of how environmentally friendly its activities or products are.

 

One study in particular appears to be of some relevance for sport. The authors make a series of pertinent observations, notably that different stakeholders take varying views of whether activities can or should be labelled ‘washing’.

 

This is important, because it indicates that like those who are accused of greenwashing, those who seem like they are engaging in sports-washing are not always actually doing so.

 

Some cases are in fact washing, which the authors would refer to as ‘genuine’ cases. In other instances, the ‘potential’ for sports-washing might be evident, but there could also be situations where there is no sports-washing taking place.

 

Assuming that a country – or an organisation – is genuinely engaged in the practice, this raises a few questions.

 

Why have they chosen to engage in washing, and what is being washed? Why has sport been selected rather than another medium of transmission? Who are their target audiences? How does the process of washing work, and as the perpetrator of sport-washing, how do a country’s officials know when they’ve achieved what they set out to do?

 

What has been a notable feature of the prolonged Saudi Arabian pursuit of Newcastle United is the role that fans have played in the process. Whatever the Public Investment Fund’s motives, fans have given them legitimacy – be they political, socio-cultural, or otherwise.

 

This has been most obvious on social media, where some Newcastle fans have started using photographs of Mohammed Bin Salman in their biographies on Twitter, whilst others have used words and images to accentuate their – and the club’s – associations with Saudi Arabia.

 

Certain groups of fans though, have been more circumspect in their appraisal of what the proposed acquisition might mean for the club. Indeed, several fan groups have explained that they will seek to use football as a means through to exert pressure on government in Riyadh, with a view to helping enforce the perceived changes needed in the country.

 

On the issue, the Newcastle fan base seems to have been split in four ways: active legitimisers – those exhibiting strong and clear support for Saudi Arabia and its rulers; indifferent legitimisers – those who don’t seem to care where the money is coming from or what it means, so long as their club wins; resistant legitimisers – those who are mindful of and often question the motives of their club’s new owners; and ignorant legitimisers – those who either know nothing of or do not care about the issues being raised by the acquisition of their club.

 

Sports-washing is not, however, just a Saudi Arabian and Newcastle United issue alone, there have been many other potential examples. The Abu Dhabi government’s purchase of Manchester City is another, whilst the staging of prize boxing bouts – such as that involving Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Junior in Riyadh – has also been labelled as being an attempt at washing, and maybe this is true, but maybe not.

 

What is certain though, is that without more sophisticated analyses and nuanced debate, rather lazy labelling will no doubt continue, and those countries that do engage in using sport-washing will be more likely to get away with it.

 

https://www.policyforum.net/newcastles-takeover-and-the-politics-of-sport/

 

Thought the Professor had slunk away, even the Ronny gill don’t ask for his opinion these days.

 

The "expert" who was convinced they had zero interest in the club and it was all rubbish, isn't he?

 

His insiders at the pif hadn’t heard anything of interest in Newcastle. They couldn’t understand why they’d be interested in us when they could buy Man U.

 

He kept this line up for 2 months, obviously with the delay he feels emboldened to return hoping everyone had forgot.

[xLiaaamx]

Is this cunting report something that is coming out due to the takeover/test? Or just a happy coincidence that it happens to be coming out now?

 

I've really tried to switch off over all this bollocks until it's sorted.

 

Coincidence. Was already ongoing. Seems Qatar tipped off the PL it was to be released when they got their copy.

[Dokko]

You actually believe he's received a warning for using a common turn of phrase? You're all as fucking mad as each other. This thing has driven you all off the cliff.

 

You can tell from his crying posts afterwards that he’s been told to wind his neck in. He was pissed people were sending in complaints, last time he didn’t give a fuck.

 

Aye common, I use it every day  pass me the butter please and didn’t hitler always run trains on time.

[Wilson]

Is this cunting report something that is coming out due to the takeover/test? Or just a happy coincidence that it happens to be coming out now?

 

I've really tried to switch off over all this bollocks until it's sorted.

 

Coincidence. Was already ongoing. Seems Qatar tipped off the PL it was to be released when they got their copy.

 

 

Makes me wonder, all this talk of them 'waiting' for it to come out before an announcement, what if it was published 6 month ago, would they have just thrown it out/approved it within weeks?

 

I just wonder if it's being goven more attention than it deserves.

[Kasper]

You actually believe he's received a warning for using a common turn of phrase? You're all as fucking mad as each other. This thing has driven you all off the cliff.

 

This. Absolutely nothing in it. None of you fuckers would have gotten sacked for that no matter what your job is.

[Chris_R]

It'll just be blessed relief when it happens, whichever way it goes.

If it’s a fail, there’ll be an appeal, if that fails I would think potential legal action. It could go on a bit longer.

Do you think they would definitely appeal.  My worry is they'd try elsewhere.

Where, it’s the PL they want into, biggest league in the world, global coverage.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

It's only the biggest league in the world because it has the most money and the best players.

 

But if both of those go elsewhere.....?

 

No reason for that to change, PL is the richest and biggest for a reason.  You're not suggesting that the Saudis buying a club in another League would be enough to even begin to dethrone the PL are you?

 

I don't know the answer to that. But things are not beyond being able to be changed. It's only what, 25-30 years since Serie A was at least as big if not bigger than the PL. They certainly had all the biggest players. I remember watching Football Italia and being astonished that Italian spectators were being charged over £30 per ticket when I'd rock up at Newcastle and pay £3 on the door, admittedly as a 14-year old in the second division.

 

They had the players, they had the spectators, the grounds, the money, the exposure. Then Sky came along and everyone came to the PL instead. I'm not for one second saying things will change, but things can change, we're not above being dethroned as the self-proclaimed biggest and best league in the world and the world's richest consortium buying a club in a different league and whilst it won't tip the scales entirely on its own, it can't be overlooked as something which may alter the balance of power between the different leagues at least a bit.

 

The French league has already gone up in everyone's eyes because of what's happened with PSG.

 

Anything can change over the course of 25-30 years, but with regard to the Saudis they aren't buying well into the future they're buying now.  If they want a club in the biggest league then for the foreseeable future that means the PL.

 

I get that. But if they can't have us, they can't have another team in this league so they either walk away from football altogether, or they try with someone in a different league.

[Guest chopey]

I hope my job isn't linked to my Twitter account because I have said some truly horrible things to Michael Owen on there.

[Guest reefatoon]

#Miguelsjobmatters

[Joey Linton]

Having point blank refused to delete it, I wonder why he then did? Must just be a massive coincidence.

[Chris_R]

You actually believe he's received a warning for using a common turn of phrase? You're all as fucking mad as each other. This thing has driven you all off the cliff.

 

This. Absolutely nothing in it. None of you fuckers would have gotten sacked for that no matter what your job is.

 

What if you were press officer for the Simon Weisenthal Centre?

[Stifler]

I hope my job isn't linked to my Twitter account because I have said some truly horrible things to Michael Owen on there.

Instant promotion in that scenario.

[Judge Holden]

Having point blank refused to delete it, I wonder why he then did? Must just be a massive coincidence.

 

Well done mate, you got someone to delete a tweet because you were offended.

[Kasper]

You actually believe he's received a warning for using a common turn of phrase? You're all as fucking mad as each other. This thing has driven you all off the cliff.

 

This. Absolutely nothing in it. None of you fuckers would have gotten sacked for that no matter what your job is.

 

What if you were press officer for the Simon Weisenthal Centre?

 

You really dont understand what the phrase means do you?

[Guest godzilla]

You actually believe he's received a warning for using a common turn of phrase? You're all as f***ing mad as each other. This thing has driven you all off the cliff.

 

This. Absolutely nothing in it. None of you f***ers would have gotten sacked for that no matter what your job is.

 

What if you were press officer for the Simon Weisenthal Centre?

 

You really dont understand what the phrase means do you?

 

Don't think he did either, seeing as he got it wrong 

[Wullie]

It's true that he got the phrase wrong, it's supposed to be used for Mussolini. Was the complaint about historical inaccuracy? If so then I support it, as a renowned pedant.

 

Or was it the actions of a weird sociopath who tries to report a journalist to his employer because what he wrote about my FOOTBALL TEAM made me have a boo boo?

[Guest reefatoon]

Good job the quote didn’t come from someone from PIF or the buyers side as the fume would have been coming from a different demographic in here.

[Whitley mag]

 

 

The complaint details central and municipal government departments supporting BeoutQ.

 

Let’s hope pif don’t fall under that umbrella.

[Joey Linton]

It's true that he got the phrase wrong, it's supposed to be used for Mussolini. Was the complaint about historical inaccuracy? If so then I support it, as a renowned pedant.

 

Or was it the actions of a weird sociopath who tries to report a journalist to his employer because what he wrote about my FOOTBALL TEAM made me have a boo boo?

 

No on both counts. The one of us suggesting the other should go through someone's bins shouldn't be calling anyone weird.

[Dokko]

If Ryder came out with something like that a lot of you would be slating him but because Miguel wrote a couple of decent articles and isn't on your particular shit list then it seems its all out defence of the guy. Miguel's actions are pathetic, some of the responses to it are also pathetic, but equally as pathetic is defending him when he's gone out of his way to wind up fellow fans and trying to stop a takeover we've desperately needed for 12 fucking years.

 

No one has come out of this in any great light.

 

 

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Joey Linton for poster of the year, top guy

 

The little Hitler

 

 

[Guest Carrick18]

Miguel's got some of you on strings. 

 

That's his schtick man, he loves a good argument. You'd be better off reminding him how he misused the phrase rather than trying to get him sacked.

[Guest reefatoon]

Miguel is now the line in the sand between the inny’s and the outy’s. “Can say no wrong and is always misquoted bless him and his stories are lovely”  the anti takeover brigade.......... “He’s a horrible rancid cunt that needs sacking, I’m massively offended” the takeover gang

[Joey Linton]

Joey Linton for poster of the year, top guy

 

The little Hitler

 

Reported to your employer.