EPL ‘threatening to kick Newcastle out’ of competition over Saudi takeover

Newcastle United were threatened with being kicked out of the Premier League in the build-up to blocking a Saudi Arabia takeover of the club, a tribunal has heard.

The Saudi Arabia-backed consortium tried to buy the club from Mike Ashley in a £300million deal last summer but eventually walked away after a dispute with the Premier League as to who would own the club.

Magpies with expulsion while the club struggled with the league to get a takeover over the line.

Jowell also stated in the hearing that media organisation BeIn Sports and a “number of major Premier League clubs joined in lobbying against the takeover deal.”

read also:Qatar gets first ever Formula One Grand Prix

Ruling leader Mohammed bin Salman chairs the Public Investment Fund (PIF) aiming to provide funds for the deal but the Premier League says it needed a “clear determination as to which entities it believed would have control over the club” after the proposed purchase.

That’s because the PIF and the Saudi government are ‘inextricably’ linked, meaning the league wanted high-level Saudi officials to be submitted for their Owners’ and Directors’ Test.