If fans deny the reality of our Saudi takeover, club will turn into a pariah

IWASN’T surprised to read that critics of the Newcastle United takeover are being targeted by a social media account which the CIA linked to a Saudi official involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident journalist.

Investigators have established the extreme measures that Mohammed bin Salman’s regime and its army of Twitter trolls take to intimidate opponents online and I suspect that I have been a victim of their work myself.

Ever since I called out Newcastle fans for turning a blind eye to the potential repercussions of the club’s takeover by an investment fund linked to the crown prince, I have been subject to abuse online from accounts that look suspiciously like Saudi bots.

This is how sportswashing works and it is important to stand up to its insidious tactics. Too many of my fellow Newcastle fans are embracing a murderous dictatorship which bombs children and crushes democracy. They are reducing Saudi atrocities to ‘issues’, while that minority of supporters who choose to oppose the new ownership have been called ‘virtue-signalling snowflakes’.

This cannot go on. The longer Tyneside refuses to confront the reality of this deal, the more implicated in the Saudis’ dirty business it will become. Newcastle will turn into a pariah of the game. Every atrocity that the regime commits from now on will be associated with our club. Is their money worth it?

No amount of ‘What about the owners of Manchester City and Chelsea?’ will cut it. Newcastle fans say they are powerless but are we really? Fan power defeated the European Super League. A minority of Manchester United fans decided the Glazers’ takeover of the club was the final straw and formed a fan-owned club. FC United is now the largest fan-owned football team in the UK.

The Newcastle PR machine is working overtime to win hearts and minds. The pledge to match fans’ food bank donations was a masterstroke but, from a regime deliberately causing a famine in Yemen, a neighbouring country, it was also a sick joke.

Bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, has waged a war in Yemen and the resulting famine is the direct result of the Saudi-led intervention and blockade. Maybe fans’ groups can suggest that the new owners donate money to alleviate the famine and to rebuild the 1,500 schools in Yemen damaged or destroyed by the war?

Some talk about ‘engagement’ and argue that dealing with the regime will somehow help to change them. This is the tail wagging the dog.

Changing the internal policies of the dictatorship is clearly not on their agenda. Politicians and former players assure us that Saudi blood money will be good for the region. But all the perfumes and money of Arabia will not sweeten this deal or wipe away its crimes.

The club’s tweet in support of Josh Cavallo, the Australian footballer who came out as gay, has been seized upon by those who believe engaging with the homophobic regime can change it. But the club statement was a hypocritical publicity stunt.

The new owners’ commitment to the upcoming Rainbow Laces Day and the Newcastle Women’s team depends on no one mentioning the public flogging of LGBT+ activists and the jailing, sexual abuse and torture of women fighting for equal rights. So, what is to be done? Well, we should not be afraid to bring up the new owners’ human rights abuses.

Groups like Kick it Out and Show Racism the Red Card should condemn the racism and anti-semitism of the Saudi state. One club fanzine asked how can the Saudis be antisemitic if they are in business with people of a Jewish background? This is how sportswashing works. Outside Saudi Arabia the regime will get into bed with anyone if it helps their rebranding.

Political representatives should support the 51 per cent golden share model of fan-led club ownership. Instead we have had the excruciating sight of Nick Forbes, leader of Newcastle city council, begging the regime for an audience to discuss investment.

Most of us were born Toon fans. We have lived through the highs and lows of the 52 years since the club last won something. For our loyalty and passion we deserve success. We deserve the joy of seeing someone in a black-and-white shirt lifting a cup. But like this? No thanks. There is another way.

Are Toon fans powerless? Fan power saw off the European Super League