Finance guru: Demands for PIF to be outed after Newcastle United ‘leak’
Critics will argue that leaked images of next season’s Newcastle United away kit prove that there is no separation between the Saudi state and the club.
That is the view of finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the controversy surrounding the green and white strip.
As reported by the Daily Mail last Friday (13 May), Newcastle will turn out in 2022-23 wearing colours that bear a striking resemblance to the Saudi national team.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund gave legally binding assurances to the Premier League that there would be no state involvement when they took over the Magpies for £305million in October last year.
This claim has been widely scorned by the commentariat and human rights campaigners.
Premier League CEO Richard Masters stated that PIF could be removed if evidence was found to the contrary, as quoted by BBC Sport in December last year.
Plumley expects that the new away kit will lead critics to further question if this is the case.
“There is definitely a broad plan to use sport in the Middle East to drive interest in and connections to the PIF,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“We have seen them make that play. We could see this leak coming, couldn’t we? We have seen teams change club colours before.
“The other aspect is needing the disconnect between the state and the club. This is a bit of grey area within that.
“People will make the argument that this proves there is no separation, but Newcastle can just say that they wanted to have a white away kit.”
Newcastle beat Arsenal 2-0 on Monday (16 May) to move up to 12th in the Premier League.
They face Burnley on the final day of the season on Sunday (22 May).
In other news, Newcastle United and Aston Villa lead the race to sign Kalvin Phillips after Leeds United twist.