Newcastle United warned of Saudi ‘suspicion’ as Premier League ‘sharpen their knives’ – Kieran Maguire
Newcastle United should “keep an arm’s length” from Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
That is the opinion of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about Newcastle’s need to stray from links to the Saudi Arabian government.
Saudi Arabia has launched a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup alongside Egypt and Greece and are pushing to host 75 per cent of the tournament’s matches.
The decision will be made in 2024, with bids also submitted by Portugal and Spain and Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
A Saudi Arabia-led consortium completed the £300million takeover of Newcastle in 2021, and the club have repeatedly insisted that there is no connection between the Public Investment Fund and the Saudi state.
Maguire expects Newcastle to keep themselves distant from Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid to avoid “suspicion” about their links to the Saudi regime.
“I suspect the Newcastle ownership will keep an arm’s length when it comes to the issues related to the 2030 World Cup,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“The reason for this is that they have been very keen to show that Newcastle’s owners are independent of the Saudi government.
“Anything that ties Newcastle to Saudi Arabia’s bid could be viewed with suspicion.
“It took long enough for the deal to be approved by the Premier League in the first place.
“The Premier League has clearly been sharpening their knives about the situation at Man City.
“So expect Newcastle to tread very softly and carefully about Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in bidding for World Cup hosting rights.“
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