Kieran Maguire: Newcastle United in ‘very strong position’ after £9billion new deal agreed
Newcastle United have been placed in a “very strong position” after Saudi Arabia won the rights to host the 2023 Club World Cup.
That is the opinion of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the Premier League club’s impact in expanding Saudi Arabia’s influence following their takeover last year.
Saudi Arabia will become the sixth nation to host the Club World Cup after Fifa selected the nation as the host for the tournament last week.
Fifa are planning to revamp the competition from 2025 onwards, expanding it to 32 teams, including 12 entrants from Europe.
As reported by SportsProMedia (15 February), the projected earnings of the tournament between 2023 and 2026 are £9bn.
Saudi Arabia have also launched a joint bid alongside Greece and Egypt to host the 2030 World Cup.
Maguire believes Saudi Arabia are pleased that their Newcastle takeover has helped to increase the nation’s sporting influence but warns that a Man United bid could see the Magpies become the second favourite.
“There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia is now a big player in terms of rights for individual tournaments,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“The awarding of the Club World Cup is further evidence of this.
“It puts Newcastle United in a very strong position moving forward unless there is a Saudi-backed bid for Man United.
“In that case, it’d be awkward to see which of the two clubs would be favoured by the Saudi regime.
“But there is no doubt that Saudi Arabia want to continue using sport to expand influence and awareness of the country.
“They’ve achieved that through Newcastle in the last 18 months or so and hosting tournaments with a view to eventually getting the 2030 World Cup is another step forward for them.“
In other news, Newcastle United are frontrunners in race to sign Alex Scott in summer deal