Takeover Thread - July 1st statement, Staveley letter to Tracey Crouch (and response) in OP

[Stifler]

I’m starting to get the impression that they haven’t actually pulled out of the deal at all but are using this as a way to apply pressure on the Premier League, be that government pressure, fan pressure, or the prospect of a legal challenge. It is a bold bluff, but I guess if they feel like there is nothing left to lose, then they are in a no lose position.

But couldn't the PL just say they don't need to come to a conclusion because PIF made it public they have pulled out of the deal? What would be the point of continuing with it anyway

It would require a confirmation statement, otherwise they could take anything from the media as an indication at any time.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

I think that Athletic article nailed it like and explains the reasons why without a huge shift this isn't likely to happen with Saudi owners. I find it hard to see the fury shown towards the PL. Frustration, fine. But there's a lot of evidence that points towards what the PLs demands were and it's kinda fair enough. The piracy, the falsifying of statements from official bodies, the compensation owed to BeIn/Qatar or whoever because of the blatant thievery. And seemingly opportunity was given to try and rectify these issues by extending it kinda indefinitely. Until the Saudi's pulled out because they weren't willing to comply with what is, unfortunately, law. The PL have effectively said that PIF and the state aren't suitably independent, and therefore the states crimes are attributable to PIF. If they have the confidence they seemingly do to stand behind that determination, then that's quite telling, imo. That's the only argument here I think. And none of us are knowledgeable enough to know if the determination is right or not.

 

That's not the say that Qatar don't have far too much influence over the PL in that region. The fact they control all they do is absurd. And they're quite clearly embedded in world football and not just the PL. Unfortunately, their influence is enshrined in law.

[Whitley mag]

I’m starting to get the impression that they haven’t actually pulled out of the deal at all but are using this as a way to apply pressure on the Premier League, be that government pressure, fan pressure, or the prospect of a legal challenge. It is a bold bluff, but I guess if they feel like there is nothing left to lose, then they are in a no lose position.

 

This is what I’m clinging to they’re certainly not giving the impression they’ve completely walked away. The more I read about Masters, Bush and Hoffman the less faith I have in the process, and can see why they’ve maybe felt this was there only option.

 

Another avenue I think NUST need to explore is how to create pressure on govt, they’ve received north east votes and this decision is stopping investment in the region. Certainly the petition is an avenue to do this, but it would be something maybe the trust could explore further. If we could get local MP’s on board this would be a start, also where the f*** is newcastle city council in all this, where led to believe Staveley discussed investment with them. How in the current climate they can stand by idly and say nothing beggars belief.

 

Ultimately we have buyers and seller in agreement, we need to find a way to help facilitate this deal and get PL to sanction this sale. They believe doing nothing was the easiest route out of this, let’s make them realise this was a huge mistake and they have underestimated this club, city and fan base massively.

[Rafalove]

I think that Athletic article nailed it like and explains the reasons why without a huge shift this isn't likely to happen with Saudi owners. I find it hard to see the fury shown towards the PL. Frustration, fine. But there's a lot of evidence that points towards what the PLs demands were and it's kinda fair enough. The piracy, the falsifying of statements from official bodies, the compensation owed to BeIn/Qatar or whoever because of the blatant thievery. And seemingly opportunity was given to try and rectify these issues by extending it kinda indefinitely. Until the Saudi's pulled out because they weren't willing to comply with what is, unfortunately, law. The PL have effectively said that PIF and the state aren't suitably independent, and therefore the states crimes are attributable to PIF. If they have the confidence they seemingly do to stand behind that determination, then that's quite telling, imo. That's the only argument here I think. And none of us are knowledgeable enough to know if the determination is right or not.

 

That's not the say that Qatar don't have far too much influence over the PL in that region. The fact they control all they do is absurd. And they're quite clearly embedded in world football and not just the PL. Unfortunately, their influence is enshrined in law.

 

 

This. I do think the Premier league should come out and offer a explanation though.

[Robster]

SDBS

[Robster]

I’m starting to get the impression that they haven’t actually pulled out of the deal at all but are using this as a way to apply pressure on the Premier League, be that government pressure, fan pressure, or the prospect of a legal challenge. It is a bold bluff, but I guess if they feel like there is nothing left to lose, then they are in a no lose position.

I’ve been that way since an hour after it all came out. One big last roll of the dice. If it doesn’t happen after all this has come out and external pressure is applied, then it wouldn’t ever Have happened and they’ve lost nowt either way. What it’s done is shake up the status quo.

Yeah I have always had a thought that since they said they still want it to happen, that theirs more to it. The more we hear of it, the more I’m convinced that they are still in the same position behind the scenes and have only just changed the public face of it. I think if it did go our way then there would be no positive headlines until we got a statement saying the deal has been completed out of the blue.

If they’re putting pressure on by changing public face, they’ll be doing twice as much in private. Nailed on there’s been dialogue between KSA and uk government over this, the results of that are yet to come

Gloves are off. This simply isn’t over.

I think you need to accept sooner rather than later that this deal is over and nothing is going to rectify it.

[Bishops Finger]

I’m starting to get the impression that they haven’t actually pulled out of the deal at all but are using this as a way to apply pressure on the Premier League, be that government pressure, fan pressure, or the prospect of a legal challenge. It is a bold bluff, but I guess if they feel like there is nothing left to lose, then they are in a no lose position.

But couldn't the PL just say they don't need to come to a conclusion because PIF made it public they have pulled out of the deal? What would be the point of continuing with it anyway

It would require a confirmation statement, otherwise they could take anything from the media as an indication at any time.

I thought the PIF was an official statement that they were pulling out, even though they did it through Sky Sports. Another thing though, how can they possibly say PIF have nothing to do with the state of SA when their Crown Prince is chairman? That seriously couldn't stand up on court if it went that far. He's basically running the country

[olliemort]

I think that Athletic article nailed it like and explains the reasons why without a huge shift this isn't likely to happen with Saudi owners. I find it hard to see the fury shown towards the PL. Frustration, fine. But there's a lot of evidence that points towards what the PLs demands were and it's kinda fair enough. The piracy, the falsifying of statements from official bodies, the compensation owed to BeIn/Qatar or whoever because of the blatant thievery. And seemingly opportunity was given to try and rectify these issues by extending it kinda indefinitely. Until the Saudi's pulled out because they weren't willing to comply with what is, unfortunately, law. The PL have effectively said that PIF and the state aren't suitably independent, and therefore the states crimes are attributable to PIF. If they have the confidence they seemingly do to stand behind that determination, then that's quite telling, imo. That's the only argument here I think. And none of us are knowledgeable enough to know if the determination is right or not.

 

That's not the say that Qatar don't have far too much influence over the PL in that region. The fact they control all they do is absurd. And they're quite clearly embedded in world football and not just the PL. Unfortunately, their influence is enshrined in law.

 

This is all speculation unless you know this as a fact?

The thing that pisses me off and I'm sure the most is the way the takeover has being dealth with or not dealth with in fact. Do you honestly think if this was one of the top 6 would be different? It's the same shit watching games last number of years with certain teams getting ridiculous decisions in games. The whole organisation stinks and this is the last straw for me.

[Stifler]

Is there anyone citizens of Newcastle can sue for the £250m that was going to be invested in the city?

 

I know theirs no way we could ever win, but threatening to take that to court would be a big PR blow for the Premier League.

[Rafalove]

There’s no real way of knowing if it would be different if it was a top six club.

[Whitley mag]

I think that Athletic article nailed it like and explains the reasons why without a huge shift this isn't likely to happen with Saudi owners. I find it hard to see the fury shown towards the PL. Frustration, fine. But there's a lot of evidence that points towards what the PLs demands were and it's kinda fair enough. The piracy, the falsifying of statements from official bodies, the compensation owed to BeIn/Qatar or whoever because of the blatant thievery. And seemingly opportunity was given to try and rectify these issues by extending it kinda indefinitely. Until the Saudi's pulled out because they weren't willing to comply with what is, unfortunately, law. The PL have effectively said that PIF and the state aren't suitably independent, and therefore the states crimes are attributable to PIF. If they have the confidence they seemingly do to stand behind that determination, then that's quite telling, imo. That's the only argument here I think. And none of us are knowledgeable enough to know if the determination is right or not.

 

That's not the say that Qatar don't have far too much influence over the PL in that region. The fact they control all they do is absurd. And they're quite clearly embedded in world football and not just the PL. Unfortunately, their influence is enshrined in law.

 

Sensible post but one key flaw to your reasoning, they don’t have the confidence to stand by their determination, because if they did they would have rejected it.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

I think that Athletic article nailed it like and explains the reasons why without a huge shift this isn't likely to happen with Saudi owners. I find it hard to see the fury shown towards the PL. Frustration, fine. But there's a lot of evidence that points towards what the PLs demands were and it's kinda fair enough. The piracy, the falsifying of statements from official bodies, the compensation owed to BeIn/Qatar or whoever because of the blatant thievery. And seemingly opportunity was given to try and rectify these issues by extending it kinda indefinitely. Until the Saudi's pulled out because they weren't willing to comply with what is, unfortunately, law. The PL have effectively said that PIF and the state aren't suitably independent, and therefore the states crimes are attributable to PIF. If they have the confidence they seemingly do to stand behind that determination, then that's quite telling, imo. That's the only argument here I think. And none of us are knowledgeable enough to know if the determination is right or not.

 

That's not the say that Qatar don't have far too much influence over the PL in that region. The fact they control all they do is absurd. And they're quite clearly embedded in world football and not just the PL. Unfortunately, their influence is enshrined in law.

 

This is all speculation unless you know this as a fact?

The thing that pisses me off and I'm sure the most is the way the takeover has being dealth with or not dealth with in fact. Do you honestly think if this was one of the top 6 would be different? It's the same shit watching games last number of years with certain teams getting ridiculous decisions in games. The whole organisation stinks and this is the last straw for me.

 

I don't know it's fact, not many people would. Nothing's been released. There is a lot of evidence though and it's a decent educated guess, imo. It also makes sense.

 

And yes [sigh], it would be the same. The PL can't allow people who have stolen their property and cost an awful lot of stakeholders a lot of money to be involved int the PL. I can't explain the Sheff Utd situation as I know fuck all about their set up but it's quite clearly different.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

I think that Athletic article nailed it like and explains the reasons why without a huge shift this isn't likely to happen with Saudi owners. I find it hard to see the fury shown towards the PL. Frustration, fine. But there's a lot of evidence that points towards what the PLs demands were and it's kinda fair enough. The piracy, the falsifying of statements from official bodies, the compensation owed to BeIn/Qatar or whoever because of the blatant thievery. And seemingly opportunity was given to try and rectify these issues by extending it kinda indefinitely. Until the Saudi's pulled out because they weren't willing to comply with what is, unfortunately, law. The PL have effectively said that PIF and the state aren't suitably independent, and therefore the states crimes are attributable to PIF. If they have the confidence they seemingly do to stand behind that determination, then that's quite telling, imo. That's the only argument here I think. And none of us are knowledgeable enough to know if the determination is right or not.

 

That's not the say that Qatar don't have far too much influence over the PL in that region. The fact they control all they do is absurd. And they're quite clearly embedded in world football and not just the PL. Unfortunately, their influence is enshrined in law.

 

Sensible post but one key flaw to your reasoning, they don’t have the confidence to stand by their determination, because if they did they would have rejected it.

 

I'd be getting in to uneducated guesses to explain it but maybe if SA agreed to legally broadcast BeIn for the agreed contract period in MENA, compensated whoever needed compensated for the previous however many years of piracy and shut everything down and fell in line with what is currently law, they'd potentially have allowed it. Because then the ties to the state wouldn't also come with the crimes. Saudis said nah, pulled out. Saudi Arabia have stolen from the PL. We all know it.

[Sho Time]

I think that Athletic article nailed it like and explains the reasons why without a huge shift this isn't likely to happen with Saudi owners. I find it hard to see the fury shown towards the PL. Frustration, fine. But there's a lot of evidence that points towards what the PLs demands were and it's kinda fair enough. The piracy, the falsifying of statements from official bodies, the compensation owed to BeIn/Qatar or whoever because of the blatant thievery. And seemingly opportunity was given to try and rectify these issues by extending it kinda indefinitely. Until the Saudi's pulled out because they weren't willing to comply with what is, unfortunately, law. The PL have effectively said that PIF and the state aren't suitably independent, and therefore the states crimes are attributable to PIF. If they have the confidence they seemingly do to stand behind that determination, then that's quite telling, imo. That's the only argument here I think. And none of us are knowledgeable enough to know if the determination is right or not.

 

That's not the say that Qatar don't have far too much influence over the PL in that region. The fact they control all they do is absurd. And they're quite clearly embedded in world football and not just the PL. Unfortunately, their influence is enshrined in law.

 

Sensible post but one key flaw to your reasoning, they don’t have the confidence to stand by their determination, because if they did they would have rejected it.

 

I'd be getting in to uneducated guesses to explain it but maybe if SA agreed to legally broadcast BeIn for the agreed contract period in MENA, compensated whoever needed compensated for the previous however many years of piracy and shut everything down and fell in line with what is currently law, they'd potentially have allowed it. Because then the ties to the state wouldn't also come with the crimes. Saudis said nah, pulled out. Saudi Arabia have stolen from the PL. We all know it.

 

However there's absolutely nothing to prove it. Saudi's compensating BeIN would be almost an admission of guilt.

 

As was pointed out, if the PL were confident in their rationale they would have rejected the takeover outright.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Of course it would be an admission of guilt And they're guilty. Admitting it and compensating it goes some way to rectifying it. Along with agreeing to comply with what they're legally binded by.

 

I'm obviously guessing, and I'm not exactly going to try and claim what I'm thinking is true with regard to the detail. I just really dont get the fury towards the PL. Its an incredibly sensitive political situation. I think it's far more probable that the PL didnt reject it because they were giving them the opportunity to rectify it. And it's a huge decision for the PL to be the ones to have to make to say PIF and SA are more closely tied than they'd have you believe. I very much doubt they wanted to be the people who had to make that decision. I think it's telling no one of any real authority has said anything about it, mind.

 

Maybe the PL didnt really want to say outright No, you're effectively the state, or Yes, come on board we'll defend PIF against all the claimants against SA. That's annoying. Kinda understandable, though. All of that goes waaaay beyond football.

[Conjo]

In that assumption, how do you explain PL demanding that the KSA should be a named director of the club, if the kingdom owning the club was the thing stopping the proposed owners of getting approved?

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Where's that?

[mrmojorisin75]

Is there anyone citizens of Newcastle can sue for the £250m that was going to be invested in the city?

 

Stifler's left the atmosphere

[Conjo]

Where's that?

 

Direct quote from Staveley on the day they pulled out of the deal, wasn't it?

 

"They [the Premier League] tried to make the state of Saudi a director. The PIF had agreed to become a director."

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Not read that. No idea.

 

 

Kinda supports the logic, though. If they think they're not independent, they're asking the person who they believe to be in charge to put themselves forward. Actually I think that strengthens my beliefs, personally.

[Guest]

Either Staveley’s a liar or the Premier League bottled it. Those are the two things for me. If Staveley’s a liar, I don’t see why the PL aren’t just coming out saying, ‘they didn’t satisfy our criteria so a decision wasn’t reached’ or similar. Would have saved a lot of aggro over the last few days. Unless of course she’s not lying and they’re worried about a legal backlash.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

I honestly think the latter. Would you want to be the one to set the precedent and say PIF and SA are too closely linked? (Not you personally that's absurd but you know what I mean). That has huge ramifications. So yeah, bottled it I suppose. I imagine they're a bit pissed off, though. Rock and a hard place.

 

I dont think she's lying, personally. I think she believes PIF pass.

[Guest]

But they seem happy to be influenced by a corporation who are under investigation for bribery into the 2026 & 2030 broadcasting rights. Guess they’ve already taken sides.

 

Makes you think, though. If they look as though they’re going to be found guilty of giving FIFA backhanders, if certain people at the Premier League haven’t been offered similar to stop this going through.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Oh aye, they're guilty of that, imo. That ship's sailed, though. Written in to multi million pound contracts now. Courts would sign that shit off.

 

I imagine if Qatar are found guilty it'd be a fucking relief for them. Can probably right a load of stuff off. Dunno. Not a legal person. Would teach them not to be so fucking naive when they're hawking their exploitation of the average PL football fan for absurd amounts of money whilst contributing fuck all.

[Tiresias]

But they seem happy to be influenced by a corporation who are under investigation for bribery into the 2026 & 2030 broadcasting rights. Guess they’ve already taken sides.

 

Makes you think, though. If they look as though they’re going to be found guilty of giving FIFA backhanders, if certain people at the Premier League haven’t been offered similar to stop this going through.

 

Of course they are though, Bein have paid premier league for broadcast rights, the idea of a big customer having no clout seems to be a fantasy dreamed up when none of dared to believe it would go wrong and now people are like how dare someone who pays the league loads of money expect the league to pay attention to them. Noone thinks anyone involved in this is moral, there is no morality here for miles.

 

Honestly, of course in a way it's wrong for saudi arabia to buy us, (and i do not buy any of this BS how dare the league assume MBS would be involved, that's bs of course he is ofc they were pirating, it's clear as day) it's just the league have no moral ground to stand on and have allowed plenty of dodgy owners, so just depressing we are the ones caught out. And it's tragic that some of that money that will be spent bombing yemen isn't diverted to supporting the north east (let alone reuben's money which while kinda think they're brexity wankers hardly actually evil lol) and the boost the area...

 

The reality is, none of this should be allowed to happen, including mike ashley running us into the ground. Even with the element of hypocracy I woudl have respected a bit if the premier league had blocked it in a couple of weeks and said no chance not going to allow this, at least some backbone there. This all stinks of avoiding any kind of decision and stand.