Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is making a fresh investment worth tens of millions of pounds in Newcastle United FC, the English football club it bought just over a year ago, Bloomberg revealed in a new report issued this week.
According to the report, the PIF and other investors will inject a fresh £70.4 million ($80.6 million) into the English Premier League team, which brings the total amount invested in the club by the ownership group to £450 million.
PIF finally sealed a long-fought acquisition of Newcastle United in October 2021. Overnight, Newcastle United became part of an exclusive club of European teams bankrolled by Middle East investors with seemingly unlimited resources.
Since then, Newcastle United has brought in a new coach and players and is currently enjoying a successful season in the EPL, sitting third in the table after a string of impressive performances.
“We are at the beginning of a long-term plan that aims to build a club that can compete consistently at the highest levels of English and European football,” Newcastle United Chief Executive Officer Darren Eales said in a statement.
Newcastle United is one of the best-supported clubs in England. Its St. James’ Park stadium lies in the heart of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a city in the northeast of the country, and draws average crowds of more than 50,000.
Saudi Arabia expands its sportswashing ambitions
Newcastle United FC, known as Magpies, has not won a major title since 1969, and in recent years it has struggled to stay in the Premier League, dropping out of the top tier in 2009 and again in 2016.
Yet under Howe, Newcastle has caught fire and is now positioned fourth in the league standings, winning four of its last five games, including a 4-0 drubbing of Aston Villa at the weekend.
The Saudi purchase of Newcastle –- its sovereign wealth fund paid $408 million for an 80 percent stake –- has proved deeply controversial, with critics quick to deride it as an example of “sportswashing”, or using athletics to distract from human rights abuses.
Anger on social media
Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars on high-profile international sporting events in a bid to bolster its reputation, amid worsening living conditions in the Kingdom.
This includes $145m in a three-year deal with the Spanish Football Association, and $15m in appearance fees for a single Saudi International men’s golf tournament. It also includes $33m to host the Saudi Arabian Masters snooker tournament in the Kingdom, and $100m for the boxing match known as “Clash on the Dunes” between Andy Ruiz Jr and Anthony Joshua in 2019.
This has sparked widespread anger among Saudi social media users, who accusing the oil-rich nation of investing their money on failed projects.
