Thread by @JacobsBen

The Saudi GAC has confirmed the four-and-a-half year ban against beIN Sports will be lifted. beIN and KSA are also in the process of a settlement agreement for damages. This is part of $1bn arbitration case in London initiated by beIN.

KSA government has also pledged to work directly with beIN to shut down any offshoots of beoutQ. It is the first direct engagement between beIN and the KSA government and comes 10 months after the blockade was formally lifted.

beIN's sole objection to the Newcastle United takeover was over beoutQ and their own ban in KSA (their biggest market). The latter was purportedly for commercial breaches dating back to 2016... but clearly a byproduct of the political climate, too.

Key question in context of #NUFC is whether a beoutQ settlement & lifting of beIN's ban is enough for EPL to now just accept Newcastle's separation argument. Or whether EPL are still uncomfortable approving a deal with (as they believe it) links to those who stole their rights.

If (and it remains a big if) the EPL soften their stance as a result of this news, arbitration becomes redundant and a settlement would be likely before January 3. One would imagine EPL would want the anti-competition suit dropped, too, if it isn't thrown out by CAT.

The ideal scenario for the consortium is now that the beIN issue has been resolved (and yes, piracy has always been a huge hurdle), the EPL agree to only test PIF and not the KSA State.

However, if arbitration still starts on January 3, it suggests EPL are still sticking to their position, which is essentially a fear they are approving a sale linked to those who stole their rights. & if they do prove a lack of separation, it's still unlikely PIF will return.

This now makes the next 2-3 weeks key. beIN essentially have no 'live' objection to the Newcastle takeover. As a result, there is a real chance of progress before arbitration even begins. If it starts, though, that's actually worse news for #NUFC.

The club could still just prove separation early next year... but the quickest route is just going to be for the parties (in both legal cases) to start talking openly to finally end this whole saga. Time will tell if KSA/beIN resolution is enough to finally get PIF to #NUFC.

A final thought: many people, including Amanda Staveley, have said repeatedly that piracy has nothing to do with this. If true, there's nothing to celebrate here. But it isn't true. Piracy has always been a key issue & that's why this could finally help the takeover get done.

I should also point out that there are naturally other reasons why EPL may object to the KSA State owning #NUFC if a lack of separation is proven. But piracy wasn't only the major hurdle, it was also personal.

EPL would need to essentially just forget about the past. But they know this needs to be resolved and won't want it to drag on now that clear progress has been made. As a result, the beIN settlement, which also addresses the WTO report/appeal, does feel significant for #NUFC.

(Queue #NUFC Twitter meltdown).