LONDON: A Saudi Arabia-led consortium withdrew their bid to buy English Premier League club Newcastle United late Thursday. The consortium, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, businesswoman Amanda Staveley and the Reuben Brothers, had seen their bid left in limbo for months not just over the matter of human rights abuses in the autocratic kingdom, but also over its patronage of pirate operator BoutQ.
While the Saudi authorities have consistently claimed innocence in the matter, their case was dealt a body blow after the World Trade Organization ruled last month that the kingdom had indeed facilitated sports broadcasting piracy by blocking moves to shut BoutQ down.
The consortium, in a statement said: “With a deep appreciation for the Newcastle community and the significance of its football club, we have come to the decision to withdraw our interest in acquiring Newcastle United football club.
“Unfortunately, the prolonged process under the current circumstances coupled with global uncertainty has rendered the potential investment no longer commercially viable,” the statement further added.
“As an autonomous and purely commercial investor, our focus was on building long-term value for the club, its fans and the community as we remained committed to collaboration, practicality and proactivity through a difficult period of global uncertainty and significant challenges for the fans and the club.”
