With every passing week, the delay in the Newcastle United takeover process is creating confusion as more information is coming out in the media.
Earlier today, BBC journalist Ian Dennis reported:
The WTO report says “should the Premier League approve the Newcastle takeover by KSA, it would be acting inconsistently with its own decisions and factual evidence as part of the WTO proceedings”.
The tweet has now been deleted.
Soon after, Tariq Panja of the New York Times has refuted such claims. He claims that the WTO itself has not weighed in on the Newcastle deal specifically.
The Athletic’s investigative journalist, Matt Slater has tweeted that Saudi Arabia’s role in pirating beIN & its failure to protect the intellectual property of dozens of others could have a damning effect.
He added that it is a conspiracy against Newcastle United. It is Saudi Arabia’s fault, and they have to fix it.
As predicted, the WTO report on Saudi Arabia's role in pirating beIN & its failure to protect the intellectual property of dozens of others will be damning. There's no conspiracy against #NUFC, this is Saudi Arabia's fault. But Saudi Arabia can still fix this, if it wants to.
— Matt Slater (@mjshrimper) June 16, 2020
Slater has also added that he would be surprised if the WTO mention Newcastle United specifically in their report.
Where/when have I suggested the PL is waiting until today to review the content? I can't tell if you're pontificating to other NUFC fans or telling me I'm specifically wrong about something
— Matt Slater (@mjshrimper) June 16, 2020
It remains to be seen whether the report has any impact on the Premier League’s giving the potential owners the green signal to go ahead with the deal.
The potential new owners – the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Reuben Brothers and PCP Capital Partners – have already agreed a £300m deal with Mike Ashley and have paid a part-payment in the region of £17m which is non-refundable.
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