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Probably just a few days divide the world of football from having not two, but three state-sponsored super-rich clubs. Not from companies, but from entire countries with the inexhaustible resource behind them.
The Middle East comes in the most popular game., which is already much more business and advertising than chasing a ball of 22 players in search of goals and victories.
Looking at it from above, there is nothing wrong with regaining the glory of a club like Newcastle England. This is one of the most supported teams on the island, with an incredibly enthusiastic soccer city in the north of the country behind it.
Globally, Black and White fans have many fans, especially after their incredible games in the 90s, when for several seasons they were a Premier League attraction as offensive football.
Another question is that Newcastle is a successful club only in the past. In 127 years, he has won a total of 11 serious trophies: 4 times the champion of England (last in 1927), 6 times he won the FA Cup (most recently in 1955) and once – the FA Cup (1969).). That was 51 years ago without a trophy.
Newcastle will also buy titles without question when Saudi Arabia officially becomes the club’s owner in a few weeks. In the coming seasons, successes cannot be escaped with the amount of money that will be given to players and coaches in the class.
Behind the consortium, which wants to buy 80 percent of current owner Mike Ashley, sits Prince Mohammed bin Salman. And he is the man who directs, together with his country, a strategy for his sporting expansion on a world scale.
The expectations are after those around 400 million euros, which Newcastle will pay Ashley, contribute for the good of the team at least three times more in the coming years.
Take a look at Manchester City, before 2008 and today. Take a look at PSG: before 2013 and today. And imagine what Newcastle would look like.
Photo: Getty Images / Guliver Photos
Behind the English team sits the royal family of the United Arab Emirates, and behind the Paris family, that of Qatar. Its financing mechanisms are that … there are no mechanisms. It was City, and PSG in particular, that made soccer transfers and the wage market spiral out of control.
Well, there will be a third club of this type.
But this is only one side of the next deal. There are many other reasons, quite foreign to football, but moral and universal to worry about what happens.
Hatice Jengiz of Jamie Kashogi, who rocked the world in 2018, called for soccer to open its eyes and stop the deal. The journalist was killed at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Istanbul, and the horrendous details surrounding his death sparked protests against the state. Bin Salman is the guarantor.
“It’s been 18 months since Jamal’s murder – Jengiz says in an interview with The Athletic Sports Platform. – No one does anything, no one is responsible, no one is brought to court. The world superpowers are quite silent on the subject.
And the result is that I see this guy buying a popular soccer club to become part of the world’s most popular championship. It clearly shows us that he does what he wants, he buys what he wants and everyone turns a blind eye. “
Photo: BTA / AP
Apparently, the country’s image, Saudi Arabia, rather blurred by transgressions such as ties to terrorist organizations, sponsorship of dubious causes, and total human rights abuses, has an excellent remedy for the sport. Bin Salman’s strategy is clear: buy a completely different reputation, person and popularity, through the invasion of some of the most popular sports and events.
In Saudi Arabia in December, Anthony Joshua regained the championship belt against Andy Ruiz. The world was watching, critics rained over the choice of location, but strong boxing figures didn’t say a word on the subject.
On the contrary, “a wonderful country concerned about sports”, “an incredible organization”, “many horizons that open our eyes”, these phrases were heard during the game. The price? One hundred million dollars that Saudi Arabia invested in the match went for the two boxers, the staff and the organizations for which Joshua and Ruiz would fight.
In Newcastle, the approach is similar. The £ 1.2 billion investment is rumored to launch the club at the top of the pyramid as an ability to attract players and keep them on excellent pay.
And at a time when a completely different trend is expected for the world’s top clubs: cost reduction and optimization, as two months without football has a major economic effect on everyone in the game. But not in Saudi Arabia, of course.
Photo: Getty Images / Guliver Photos
The situation is strikingly reminiscent of the arrival of the Abu Dhabi sheikhs into the city: the world was outraged and admired fans of the team that was about to become fabulously rich. Now the social media reactions to Jengiz’s words are appalling: she’s been attacked by the insults of thousands of Newcastle fans already dreaming of Kilian Mbape and Cristiano Ronaldo in black-and-white jerseys, titles, cups and glory.
Following the case of Abu Dhabi and City, the Premier League created the Directors and Owners Test: this is a code that everyone must maintain to enter the family of the most expensive championship. It explores the past, relationships, business empire … It has been in operation since 2011, and it is unknown if Sheik Mansour in City and Roman Abramovich in Chelsea would have endured it if they had been in the Championship.
Actually, who are we kidding … They would, of course. Roman is already an honorary citizen of London, and Queen Elizabeth II personally accepted Sheikh Mansour and awarded him for his services to the sporting and economic climate in the Manchester region (he created a small town around the base of the city and hired many local workers).
Prince Bin Salman’s policy focuses on three priorities in the coming years. One is sports, the other is high-tech business projects, including an entirely new city (Neom) that is emerging right now, and major Red Sea operations. But sport is what will give the country a global image.
Photo: Getty Images / Guliver Photos
The Major League reaches over a billion viewers, and matches like Newcastle are watched no less than in the world, for example, Barcelona and Real Madrid. And how many of those hundreds of millions of television viewers for team meetings would be interested in saying that Saudi Arabia ranks 170th in the world for freedom of expression, executing 37 people in one day (184 total for the year) in 2019, or what happens to Kashogi if Neymar, Mbape and the biggest stars pass the field? Not many
There is almost no doubt that despite all this, the Newcastle deal will be a success. Soccer has long shown that there is no resistance to the temptation of billions in the Middle East. Qatar World 2022 remains the biggest scandal in the game – one home won with a lot of corrupt schemes and practices.
Then we have City and PSG, the most striking examples of how Europe’s mid-size teams and their national football pyramids have become a major factor on the continent. At the cost of sponsorship of the country.
UEFA has already punished the English team twice and the French team once, but will the Premier League have the strength to stop the growth of a third financial dinosaur, pumped with Saudi Arabia’s money?
The answer seems obvious.
Photo: Getty Images / Guliver Photos
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