🚨 EXCLUSIVE

Newcastle chair Yasir Al Rumayyan faces $74m lawsuit for allegedly “having carried out instructions” of Saudi Crown Prince MBS, with “malicious intent” of “harming, silencing & ultimately destroying” family of Saudi ex-intelligence chief

theathletic.com/5197880/2024/0… Court submission obtained by @TheAthleticFC shows counterclaim where, if granted, Aljabri family accuse Newcastle chair of “direct” involvement in a vengeful campaign for “political reasons” at the service of MBS. Legal docs sent to St. James’ Park.
Read: theathletic.com/5197880/2024/0…

EXCLUSIVE
🚨Emails obtained by @TheAthleticFC sent by U.K. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia say that in a conversation with UK Foreign Office official, Premier League “had agreed to settle differences” with PIF so Newcastle takeover could “go ahead”

Read ⬇️

theathletic.com/5077168/2023/1… 🚨Two meetings held by foreign office officials with Premier League over Microsoft Teams in fortnight before Newcastle takeover announced. Premier League insists the govt, while being predisposed to be helpful, did not influence takeover approval. theathletic.com/5077168/2023/1…

🚨NEW @TheAthleticFC

Manchester United chief executive Richard Arnold told an all-staff meeting on Monday that strategic review “IS ONGOING”, urging staff to “hang tight & be resilient”

Staff raised concerns over level of debt against the club theathletic.com/4881362/2023/0… 💰Arnold gave no indication of preference of Glazers about takeover, minority stake or no change… but did say; “Where there are big numbers involved, that always takes a bit of time to work through to get right arrangements in place & get everything done” theathletic.com/4881362/2023/0…

NEW @TheAthleticFC

🚨Manchester United’s plan to bring back Mason Greenwood included listing football pundits, politicians & journalists and categorising if they would be hostile or supportive. Domestic violence charities were assumed “hostile”

theathletic.com/4786779/2023/0… 🚨Manchester United’s internal process has not consulted charities specialised in supporting women in cases where alleged domestic or sexual abuse has occurred. The club did give consideration to pre-briefing charities in days before proposed announcement. theathletic.com/4786779/2023/0…

🧵 Little thread on #mufc and Greenwood after today’s events, which may help people understand what happened. This is a bit industry-y but hopefully people appreciate the transparency This morning, I approached Manchester United with a series of facts relating to their internal “process” on Mason Greenwood, which included the detail (undisputed by the club) that chief exec Arnold had told his executive team that the club was planning to bring Greenwood back.

NEW: Sources tell @TheAthleticFC Qatari broadcaster BeIN Sport now consider re-opening billion dollar investment arbitration case against Saudi Arabian state as streaming platform TOD still blocked in Saudi. This *may* have Newcastle consequences 🧵 theathletic.com/4375454/2023/0… The Premier League approved the takeover on the proviso of “legally binding assurances” from PIF that the state would not control Newcastle and (undeclared) consequences were agreed should such control occur. This was October 2021. theathletic.com/4375454/2023/0…

NEW: Emails obtained by @TheAthleticFC say British govt considered Newcastle takeover an “immediate risk” to the country’s relationship with Saudi Arabia & Boris Johnson’s chief strategist wanted an interlocutor to “impress HMG interests” on Premier League theathletic.com/4375454/2023/0… The papers claim PIF, owners of Newcastle, had stated aim of “£30 BILLION” in direct investment into the UK from 2018-2028. Our report and 59 pages of emails show the level of concern at the highest levels of British government about the possible failure. theathletic.com/4375454/2023/0…

🧵@TheAthleticUK dive into FC Barcelona
📺 Request made to UEFA to advance several years of CL TV money as security for bank loan - only to be reminded no guarantee Barca would qualify
😒How Barca stars felt victims of smears as club tries to reduce costs theathletic.com/3468740/2022/0… 🚨With just over a week till La Liga begins, doubts as to whether Barcelona will be able to register all their new signings in time (we also reveal how Barca proposed delaying Raphinha payments to Leeds until January if he could not be registered) theathletic.com/3468740/2022/0…

£40,000 of student debt and ten years in sports journalism has brought me to today’s career high. It’s…. Vardy v Rooney at the High Court. 🧵of highlights and lowlights and all relevant chipolata sausages to follow. Vardy under cross-examination, David Sherborne, barrister, is arguing that Vardy and her agent tipped off a paparazzi photographer that England WAGS were heading to a restaurant for dinner at WC 2018. She says she did not.

Interested to see how UEFA handle Champions League final being in Russia. UEFA has rarely shown any inclination to challenge politicians or consider human rights but it would now appear highly controversial to have Europe’s elite football tournament decided in Saint Petersburg UEFA President Ceferin does get in the room with Putin…

🧵been thinking a lot about this Newcastle takeover. But maybe how I spent two nights this week, in the end, is what really matters to me... (1/8) On Monday eve, I attended an event entitled “from allyship to action” at Stamford Bridge, where the Premier League and FA attended, as well as numerous London clubs, and heard from numerous LGBT fans how football not felt inclusive to us for too long. Lots of pledges were made.

Special report: UEFA & the love-in with Eastern European strongmen. Refusal to challenge or condemn homophobia, cosy meetings between @UEFA president Ceferin & Belarus Lukashenko & Russia Putin. Orban’s homophobic Hungarian govt has 2022 Europa final (1/9) theathletic.com/2665233/2021/0… #hun: LGBT representation & support stripped from education. No right to marry, adopt kids, legal recognition of gender reassignment. Latest bill added to child abuse motion, conflating LGBT with paedophilia. Yet UEFA rewards Orban pre-2022 election (2/9) theathletic.com/2665233/2021/0…