The circle of clubs controlled by Gulf States is growing. After the Emirati investments in Manchester City (and globally, in the City Football Group), and those Qatari in Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Newcastle United FC switches to the Saudi flag.
On Thursday, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) chaired by Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (“MBS”) in person, and accompanied by a consortium of shareholders, disbursed 350 million euros to acquire 80 % of club shares. “We are extremely proud to become the new owners of Newcastle United, one of the most famous clubs in English football,” said the fund’s executive director, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who has become the de facto new owner. strongman of the North East England team.
The arrival of the Saudis is accompanied by economic, geopolitical and, of course, sporting issues. A few scenes of jubilation also took place Thursday evening around St James Park, the lair of the “Magpies” of Newcastle. This new era could restore the formation to its former prestige within the English first division, the very attractive Premier League. And why not, in the future, help him make a name for himself in Europe. Two major arguments for the supporters, a thousand miles from the criticisms made by human rights associations, which have long been opposed to this operation.
- Is Newcastle an ultra-rich Premier League future?
Unsurprisingly, the consortium led by the Saudi Sovereign Fund, including notably PCP Capital Partners and the brothers David and Simon Reuben, has much higher resources than those of the former owner, the British businessman Mike Ashley.
The PIF, which already invests in new technologies and even video games, indicated at the start of the year that it wanted double its assets by 2025, in order to reach 1070 billion dollars. This information therefore suggests that the Fund would now have approximately 535 billion dollars, or 462 billion euros. A sum that is more than enough to invest in football. By way of comparison, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) has invested around 1.4 billion euros in the capital club in ten years. Enough to afford, over the years, stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, or even more recently, Lionel Messi.
In the game of comparisons – always delicate – the PIF would be almost twice as large as QSI, valued around 250 billion dollars, and very far from the Abu Dhabi United Group of Sheik Mansour, which watches over the City Group, “only “endowed with 20 billion dollars. Again, a sufficient total to take his flagship club, Manchester, to the Champions League final last year. And to make it the most expensive squad in the world for this 2021-2022 season, according to the CIES Football Observatory.
Be careful, however, the funds available to the PIF do not predict investments in the club. “We will have to wait for the declarations of the shareholders, about their precise objectives”, tempers the sports economist Pierre Rondeau, to L’Express. A very rich club does not always have the ambition of its means. “François Pinault, yet a billionaire, has not made Rennes, which he controls, a major European club, cites the specialist as an example. Neither does Paris FC, which plays in the second division, does not take advantage of the strength of hit that Bahrain’s proprietary fund could give him.”
But a priori, the club should be cut to play the leading roles. “Newcastle are the best team in the world and we want to see them win trophies at the top level, in England and in Europe. To obtain these trophies means investment, patience, and time”, declared by way of first clues Amanda Staveley, the negotiator of the operation on Thursday.
- Why did the Saudis choose this club?
Newcastle has many strengths. A record with its four league titles and its cups, acquired at the very beginning of the 20th century, and a certain international fame thanks to its exploits at the end of the 1990s. A glorious era marked by the performances of its top scorer and legend Alan shearer. Which warmly welcomed, on Twitter, this change of hands.
Despite the poor current performance, penultimate in the championship after 7 days, Newcastle also has the advantage of belonging to one of the most competitive championships in the world. And, without question, the most valued economically speaking. Its television rights, from which the clubs benefit, amount at 1.8 billion euros. A record in Europe, the triple of those, current, of Ligue 1, the French professional championship. “It is finally one of the most powerful leagues, which has a real influence, and in particular on the election of the president of UEFA”, judge Jean-Baptiste Guégan, specialist in geopolitics of sport. An important detail, at a time when the debates relate to the organization of a World Cup every two years. A competition that arouses the interest of the Gulf countries – Qatar hosts the next edition, in a year – and which the European institution opposes, unlike FIFA.
Mike Ashley’s desire to part with the club he held since 2007 does not date from today. In 2019 there were persistent rumors of an interest from a billionaire from the Gulf, but the operation did not materialize. Since the club’s return to the Premier League four years ago, the results have been mediocre, with, at best, a tenth place acquired in 2018. The two relegations that occurred during his management darken his record a little more at the head of Newcastle. .
In a way, the club’s current difficulties may be a boon for its new investors. “Newcastle does not play in any European Cup. So it does not have to respect the rules of financial fair play (FPF)”, recalls Pierre Rondeau. The Saudis should therefore have several windows to recruit new players, without being worried (for the moment) by UEFA, the European football regulator. The approach also has a risk: that Newcastle will be relegated this season to the Championship, in a very competitive league (with 24 clubs), and from which it is difficult to extricate oneself to return to the highest level.
Thus, the specific choice of Newcastle in this championship remains above all “by default”, judge Jean-Baptiste Guégan. “It’s a city that has no international visibility. No image.” Despite their substantial means, the Saudis simply couldn’t get any better.
- What is the purpose of the maneuver?
“Sport washing”, sums up Jean-Baptiste Guégan. “The first objective is to make Saudi Arabia an attractive player, which exists on the planet. Based on the examples of PSG, City, Rwanda (sponsor of Arsenal in particular), it is therefore to control its image and improve it.” Why does it need to be improved? The list is long: “the war in Yemen, the conservative policy of “MBS”, the assassination at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Istanbul of journalist Jamal Kashoggi…”.
As such, English football, it is now clear, “is becoming a hunting party between billionaires from the Middle East, for speculative, geopolitical, economic purposes”, adds Pierre Rondeau. But the Saudi investment differs despite everything from those operated by the Qataris, in Paris, or the Emiratis, in Manchester.
“The country has other problems compared to its neighbors in the Gulf: a population ten times greater than that of its neighbours. This implies problems of ageing, pensions. wishes to bring Mohammed Ben Salmane. The other side of the strategy is therefore to make it attractive in order to attract investors and tourists”, adds Jean-Baptiste Guégan. Newcastle will probably be a small pawn of this policy.
- Why is this takeover arousing criticism?
The British had already rejected the deal, in the midst of a health crisis. Officially for questions of hacking matches of the English championship in Saudi Arabia. Unofficially, the image of an English club bought by an authoritarian kingdom, led with an iron fist by Mohammed Ben Salmane, was difficult to pass. These reasons still exist today.
“Under Mohammad bin Salman, the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia remains dire – with government critics, women’s rights activists, Shia activists and human rights defenders still harassed and imprisoned, often after ostensibly inequitable”, was particularly concerned by the NGO Amnesty International.
The Premier League has also tried to minimize the event this week, claiming to have “received legally binding guarantees that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control the Newcastle United club”.
The damage is done. “I’m really sad. I guess money is more important than anything in this life,” Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz told Sky News. An act with worldwide repercussions which still bears the imprint, the mark of “MBS”.