The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia vowed to crack down on piracy over the weekend after the World Trade Organization ruled that they were behind pirate satellite TV beoutQ last week.
KSA’s Public Investment Fund want to own Newcastle United in a £300 million deal, but the Premier League is yet to approve their takeover bid as a result of the piracy claims.
The Saudis have reinforced their message in another statement by the Saudi Intellectual Property Authority issued via the country’s official press release wire in what is an attempt to convince the Premier League to approve the Magpies takeover, and they claim that an email from the English top-flight to the relevant authority would have been enough to put a stop to the illegal broadcasting of games.
There were earlier attempts by the Premier League to take legal action after beIN Sports notified them that beoutQ was simulcasting their broadcasts, but all of them were blocked by KSA as nine separate law firms in the country refused to act on their behalf.
The Daily Telegraph’s Newcastle correspondent Luke Edwards doesn’t think that the latest statement from KSA has done PIF’s chances of owning the St. James’ Park outfit any good, reacting thus to it on Twitter:
This is not good. I don’t care if I’m bombarded with abusive messages. Has set an alarm off in my head like nothing before. It’s Trumpian in its blatant attempt to rewrite what has happened. The PL know the steps they took. Repeatedly. I’m very worried. Shoot me. I might be wrong
— Luke Edwards (@LukeEdwardsTele) June 23, 2020
It remains to be seen if Saudis’ defence of the piracy accusations leveled against them will have any effect on the Premier League’s verdict on the takeover, and it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming days.
A worried Newcastle fan asked The Athletic’s George Caulkin for comments on the takeover following Edwards’ take on the statement, and he replied thus:
Not news really, just waiting for the PL decision. People close to the buyers but also opponents of the deal have had intelligence that it’s coming very soon, but they’ve also been wrong in the past. Just have to wait.
— George Caulkin (@GeorgeCaulkin) June 24, 2020
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
