The controversial takeover of Newcastle United football club by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been thrown into question after the owners told a US court that the fund should be regarded as “a foreign state”, according to The Times.
The Premier League approved the takeover in October 2021 after determining that there was a “corporate difference” between the PIF and the Saudi state. The Premier League said it had received “legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle”.
However, new US court documents seen by The Times filed on behalf of the PIF and Newcastle’s chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan in a case brought by the Saudi-backed LIV Golf breakaway competition state that the fund is “a sovereign instrumentality” of the kingdom and “not ordinary third parties”. The PIF is “a foreign state” in legal terms, the documents add.
The paper said the Premier League has declined to comment on the documents but one top-flight club executive, who asked not to be named because of club v club sensitivities, said they had raised questions about the takeover being approved.