Will Newcastle be affected by changes to Premier League owners' and directors' test?
The test that the Premier League puts prospective club owners and directors through has been the butt of many a joke.
That the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) was allowed to acquire a majority stake in Newcastle United in October 2021 provided critics with more depressing material. PIF is controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - an individual that US intelligence agencies believed to have approved the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, among many other offences - yet sailed through the Premier League's much maligned owners' and directors' test (OADT).
Newcastle's new owners are hardly the first controversial revenue stream to invest in the Premier League - and they may not be the last depending on the outcome of Manchester United's proposed takeover - but they have garnered an unprecedented groundswell of criticism.
At the end of March, the Premier League revealed a raft of changes to the OADT. It would be heartening if these alterations came in the wake of protestations from the likes of Amnesty International, but it is more likely that the Premier League were forced into action by the Government's new white paper which pledged to introduce an "enhanced" version of the OADT.
However it came about, the owners and directors of clubs in England's top tier are - theoretically - under increased scrutiny. But how will this affect Newcastle's particularly controversial hierarchy?
What are the changes to the Premier League owners' and directors' test?
The headline alteration to the Premier League's stiffened OADT is the inclusion of a clause prohibiting human rights abuses.
England's top flight is deferring to the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020, which defines human rights abuses as "activities which, if carried out by or on behalf of a State within the territory of that State, would amount to a serious violation by that State of an individual’s:
- right to life
- right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- right to be free from slavery, not to be held in servitude or required to perform forced or compulsory labour.
Human rights abuses are one of several "disqualifying events" added to the new OADT. A person or company subject to Government sanctions is now deemed to be one of these red flags - an addition undoubtedly influenced by the protracted sale of Chelsea last summer after Roman Abramovich faced such sanctions.
Other added disqualifying events include criminal offences involving violence, corruption, fraud, tax evasion and hate crimes. If an individual is suspended from the Charity Commission, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Conduct Authority or HMRC, they would also be disqualified.
Any individual even under investigation for one of these disqualifying events can be blocked by the Premier League from becoming a club director.
How do the changes to the Premier League owners' and directors' test affect Newcastle?
The improved OADT was approved unanimously by every Premier League club at a shareholders meeting in March. Turkeys don't usually vote for Christmas, so the powers that be at Newcastle clearly believe that they adhere to the stricter measures as owners and directors are subjected to the OADT every year.
PIF may be controlled by Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, and both the individual and the nation he rules would surely fail to come out favourably of any investigation into human rights abuses. However, the Premier League approved the sale of Newcastle back in 2021 on the flimsy premise that PIF - the Saudi Public Investment Fund - has nothing to do with Saudi Arabia.
When the takeover took place 18 months ago, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters claimed: “There are legally binding assurances that essentially the state will not be in charge of the club.”
Among his many responsibilities, Yasir Al-Rumayyan is the governor of PIF and chairman of Newcastle. Al-Rumayyan may be a trusted advisor of Bin Salman but he is not believed to have committed any of the "disqualifying events" in the new OADT. And so, Newcastle will likely breeze through the new regulations as easily as they navigated the original set of laughable rules.