Newcastle United’s prospective Saudi Arabian takeover has been one long and arduous process, it has been over three months after all.
But is the saga going to end anytime soon? Why is it being held up? Just why is it continuing to rumble on?
Well, ChronicleLive reporter Mark Douglas has revealed the latest situation facing the £300m deal.
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He claims that the Premier League are still wary of the issues of piracy in the Middle Eastern country and given just how reliant the top-flight is on TV deals, they are keen to eradicate the problem once and for all.
Douglas said:
“The suggestion is that the Premier League are still fixed on the piracy issue and, given the entire league’s business model is centred around the huge TV rights deals that they have negotiated, they are rigorously examining both Saudi commitments to end illegal piracy of top events and the implications of the decisions they make next.
“With information having to be passed through Newcastle’s current hierarchy to the buyers, it has been a tortuously complex and long-winded process to interrogate the issues the deal presents. And those with knowledge of the Premier League’s thinking insist it is one of the biggest ownership decisions they have had to make in the league’s 28-year history.”
The problems surrounding the illegal broadcast of PL matches has been something that the Saudi kingdom have already pledged to battle, but it appears that those in control of England’s elite division are still waiting to see the outcome of that process.
It also may come as a concern that those around the deal believe it’s one of the ‘biggest’ decisions they have had to make since the Premier League began 28 years ago.
Southampton’s own saga took nine months to push through and whilst this one is only a third of the way to matching that, we can hope that it is resolved sooner rather than later – something that CEO Richard Masters has publicly spoken about too.
Only even more time will tell what happens to the Magpies’ immediate future.