PIF and RB Sports & Media

[TheBrownBottle]

3 minutes ago, christ said:

There’s a degree of mental exhaustion for a lot of us. If PIF had arrived following a relatively popular owner who hadn’t ran the club into the ground a lot more fans would be uncomfortable with the situation. That’s not the case though, and a lot of people just want to enjoy football again. It doesn’t help that the world around is utterly fucked too. Got to find those small moments of joy where you can.

Spot on mate. Sad but true

[Coffee_Johnny]

On 05/09/2022 at 14:09, JB said:

 

 

Is this his crown court sentence? Heed frying?  

[LV]

I can’t imagine they’ll get anything more than some people shouting a bit of abuse at them. Certainly don’t think anyone will get physical with them, people will just want to see the match. 

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, Coffee_Johnny said:

Is this his crown court sentence? Heed frying?  

It makes him look like Pinhead out of Hellraiser

[arnonel]

I've said it before and I'll say it again

 

It's not binary

 

You can love them for what they are doing for the city and also hate them for their human rights record

 

 

[Coffee_Johnny]

For what it’s worth, I think when it comes to mixing football and politics, it is usually right to keep your own counsel. That said, I do think there is only one likely direction of change when insular societies embrace the broader picture of how things are elsewhere in the world.
 

We are not going to see the values and other beliefs of young Newcastle fans veering towards those prevalent in KSA, at least those which jar with modern Britain. We just might see the values and other beliefs of young Saudis shift, at least in those who become obsessed with the closest thing to ‘their’ Premier League team. Keep displaying Pride with pride, keep behaving in a way compatible with our other values, don’t be name-calling disrespectful haters, and who knows how the youth of KSA may be influenced in future. 

[NWMag]

From my perspective, I had little to no knowledge of anything to do with Saudi Arabia prior to our takeover, ever since we have been linked to PIF to this day I am constantly seeing tweets and articles about their human rights records etc, so for me the sports washing argument doesn’t hold up because all the takeover has done so far is continually highlight the negatives of the country. If they sold us and went away, I imagine most of the media coverage we have seen (which has mainly been from sports journalists anyway) would stop and therefore Saudis negatives wouldn’t be spoken about. 
 

I also feel that if PIF had bought a ‘big 6’ club, we wouldn’t have seen as much coverage. 
 

Plenty of clubs have dodgy owners already, so it doesn’t make it right but on the flip side why should we take the moral high ground and miss out? 
 

I don’t even know how to sum up my view really.

 

Do I agree with how Saudi Arabia is as a country? No.

Do I think they are more likely to change by being involved in Western businesses and football clubs? Yes

Would I be fuming if these protests led to PIF selling up to a group that wasn’t wealthy? Yes

 

I think there is so much shit going on in the world, including our own country now with this shambles of a government, that I find it very easy to just not care about a lot of things. Newcastle United is one of the things I care about a lot, and I want us to be the best and win things and I can quite easily put that above my morals, rightly or wrongly. 

[Dancing Brave]

He seems to like a protest.

 

"John Andrew Hird joined the Labour Party Young Socialists and Militant in Newcastle just before Thatcher came to power. He served as LPYS Chairman and editor of Socialist Youth. He participated in the Miner’s Strike, Liverpool City Council and Poll Tax struggles. He stayed in Castlemilk for six months during the 1992 General Election and worked in the Pollock campaign when Scottish Militant Labour candidate Tommy Sheridan won over 9,000 votes. Since then he’s lived in various places such as Saudi Arabia and Bosnia but mostly The Basque Country. He’s a founder and worker in a teaching Coop and proud member of Izquierda Revolucionaria, the Spanish section of the CWI."

[Kid Icarus]

Good on him

 

 

Edited October 29, 2022 by Kid Icarus

[Tsunami]

No issues at all with the protest. Just hope it doesn’t encourage anyone to bring a Saudi flag/ dress up. Some fans will see this a criticism of them and like many others, they just want to support the club they love. That in itself can be skewed as acceptance of sports washing.
 

I’m firmly in the I have no say in who owns us and I’ll enjoy the ride brigade. If not us it would (not could) have been another club and Saudis human rights carries on unaltered.

 

Let’s hope they have the protest and everyone respects the others viewpoint.

[TheBrownBottle]

13 minutes ago, NWMag said:

From my perspective, I had little to no knowledge of anything to do with Saudi Arabia prior to our takeover, ever since we have been linked to PIF to this day I am constantly seeing tweets and articles about their human rights records etc, so for me the sports washing argument doesn’t hold up because all the takeover has done so far is continually highlight the negatives of the country. If they sold us and went away, I imagine most of the media coverage we have seen (which has mainly been from sports journalists anyway) would stop and therefore Saudis negatives wouldn’t be spoken about. 
 

I also feel that if PIF had bought a ‘big 6’ club, we wouldn’t have seen as much coverage. 
 

Plenty of clubs have dodgy owners already, so it doesn’t make it right but on the flip side why should we take the moral high ground and miss out? 
 

I don’t even know how to sum up my view really.

 

Do I agree with how Saudi Arabia is as a country? No.

Do I think they are more likely to change by being involved in Western businesses and football clubs? Yes

Would I be fuming if these protests led to PIF selling up to a group that wasn’t wealthy? Yes

 

I think there is so much shit going on in the world, including our own country now with this shambles of a government, that I find it very easy to just not care about a lot of things. Newcastle United is one of the things I care about a lot, and I want us to be the best and win things and I can quite easily put that above my morals, rightly or wrongly. 

Depends on what you read tbf.  I was very well aware of KSA’s appalling human rights record, it’s Wahhabist strain of religious fascism, the brutality of the House of Saud, the dystopian lack of basic freedoms etc.  I’ve no time for moral relativism - as horrendous as the Tory govt is, they pale into insignificance against the govt of KSA.  Buying a football club isn’t likely to change a single thing about the country - that isn’t a salve to this.  Has owning Man City liberalised laws in Abu Dhabi?  Not one bit.  And if they’d bought any of the ‘Big 6’, you’d definitely have heard this stuff - no question at all.  
 

14 minutes ago, Dancing Brave said:

He seems to like a protest.

 

"John Andrew Hird joined the Labour Party Young Socialists and Militant in Newcastle just before Thatcher came to power. He served as LPYS Chairman and editor of Socialist Youth. He participated in the Miner’s Strike, Liverpool City Council and Poll Tax struggles. He stayed in Castlemilk for six months during the 1992 General Election and worked in the Pollock campaign when Scottish Militant Labour candidate Tommy Sheridan won over 9,000 votes. Since then he’s lived in various places such as Saudi Arabia and Bosnia but mostly The Basque Country. He’s a founder and worker in a teaching Coop and proud member of Izquierda Revolucionaria, the Spanish section of the CWI."

Sounds alreet to me 

[Cattletrucked]

3 hours ago, Dancing Brave said:

He seems to like a protest.

 

"John Andrew Hird joined the Labour Party Young Socialists and Militant in Newcastle just before Thatcher came to power. He served as LPYS Chairman and editor of Socialist Youth. He participated in the Miner’s Strike, Liverpool City Council and Poll Tax struggles. He stayed in Castlemilk for six months during the 1992 General Election and worked in the Pollock campaign when Scottish Militant Labour candidate Tommy Sheridan won over 9,000 votes. Since then he’s lived in various places such as Saudi Arabia and Bosnia but mostly The Basque Country. He’s a founder and worker in a teaching Coop and proud member of Izquierda Revolucionaria, the Spanish section of the CWI."

Anyone who protests has that right, about anything. But any fucker who has dialogue with that piece of shit on rtg (who has openly admitted that if it wasn’t NUFC, he’d not give a fuck) kind of lowers having some respect for them. My opinion. 

[STM]

 

I refuse to believe this man has anything to do with a murderous regime. Look at his little face man. 

 

 

[Dr.Spaceman]

On 29/10/2022 at 10:00, Keegans Export said:

There shouldn't be any threat of physical violence towards them regardless of when they do it and if there is then that reflects badly on the aggressors not the protestors.

 

You understand how alcohol works, right? The fella protesting knows exactly what he's doing imo, a later KO for maximum effect, knowing fine well he's going to have the pissed / coked up radgies kicking off. I'm on board with people protesting, it just needs to be genuine imo. Those mortal radgies do not represent the majority of our fan base, far from it, in the same way the horse puncha doesn't either. However, we're all going to be tarnished with the same brush, because that's how it works these days. Good luck to those genuinely protesting the ownership and not just looking to wind up a certain demographic known for overreacting 

[The Butcher]

 

 

This is us in a few years

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, The Butcher said:

 

 

This is us in a few years

Until they close all of the sponsorship loopholes City have been exploiting

[54]

 

[PauloGeordio]

1 minute ago, 54 said:

 

The business plan! 

[madras]

3 minutes ago, 54 said:

 

Any detail on this ? How much ? Where is it targeted ? Does it affect FFP in any way ?

[54]

Just now, madras said:

Any detail on this ? How much ? Where is it targeted ? Does it affect FFP in any way ?

Said in the article that they've injected £70m into the club's infrastructure.

[madras]

1 minute ago, 54 said:

Said in the article that they've injected £70m into the club's infrastructure.

I can't even get to the article.

[Nobody]

20 minutes ago, madras said:

I can't even get to the article.

https://www.nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/ownership-group-makes-further-investment-in-newcastle-united/

[Rich]

What a time to be alive.

[r0cafella]

January warchest ready to go

[gbandit]

Absolutely love hearing about ££M cash injections