@Sheikh_of_Araby Just out of interest in relation to arbitration I assume the anti competition evidence will be irrelevant when it comes to proving that the PIF are seperate to the state?
God I hate the Premier League. It speaks volumes that in a takeover involving Saudi Arabia its still easy to dislike the PL.
Have done this as totally agree with suggestion. Copy of my email to my MP. Dear Mr Jones I am emailing you to ask you to take further steps and lobby for independent regulation of the Premier League and for the arbitration hearing between Newcastle United and the Premier League to be held in public. You will no doubt have noted the recent statement made by Newcastle United in connection with the dispute between the Club and the Premier League concerning the attempted takeover of the Club by the PIF/Reubens/Staveley consortium. Whilst the Premier League rules do specify that any arbitration is to be confidential surely this is particularly to protect the Buyer and any sensitive information. If both the Buyer and the Seller are willing to waive confidentiality then it begs the question as to why confidentiality cannot be dispensed with. There are clear concerns shown in the communications which the Club have issued about the bona fides of the Premier League with suggestions of third party interests playing an inappropriate part in the considerations of the Premier League. Important issues of sports governance, transparency and openness are at stake and particularly as the persons implicitly being protected by confidentiality are agreeable to waiving confidentiality then there is no reason why the arbitration should not be held in public. The public should be able to see the parties’ evidence and arguments as well as the full decision of the Tribunal when it is made. In the background we have the recent history of the Big Project and the European Super League which raised significant concerns from not just football fans but also the wider public and the Government. If the Premier League continues to insist that the Club’s claim must be determined behind closed doors it has to be asked whose interests are actually being protected by confidentiality. The Club? No. The Buyer? No. The fans? No. As all these want the arbitration hearing to take place in public. If the arbitration hearing is to protect the Premier League’s interests then should that really be the case? I would ask that you seek that the government call on the Premier League to finally accept public scrutiny of its decision-making process. I would ask your support to this principle and ask you as my MP to take such action that you can including contacting the Premier League, the Prime Minister and publicly making the media aware of your position to press for openness and transparency and for the arbitration hearing and result to be held in public and not behind closed doors. I await your response at your earliest convenience.
So it’s better to do nothing. Really confusing logic there. The ESL failed due to public revolt over the proposal. If nobody had done anything then next season there would be a ESL. Nothing to support the theory that only our support cares. Also not true. I know quite a few Mackem friends (Chippy isn’t counted) who don’t necessarily want the takeover to go through but would love the Premier League to be shafted. That immediately proves that claim to be inaccurate. I also know a couple of Man City fans who would like the takeover to go through. They’re sick of the same old same old. Again proving the claim to be untrue. As CC says it may be futile but, at least, it’s less futile than doing absolutely nothing.
Yes. The sole issue for arbitration is separation. However, there is clearly something that NUFC possesses that they want to make public. I suspect it is relevant yo both arbitration and CAT. Something so damning that the PL want to keep it from the public. Once again, it is in the public interest in respect of transparency and football governance for this matter to be heard in public.
The ESL failed because the six clubs did not anticipate the government getting involved. Once Johnson made his "legislative bomb" comment they knew the game was up. Anyone thinking that the ESL failed because of a few Chelsea fans singing angry songs is utterly delusional. When it comes to emails and petitions, yes, this will have the exact same impact as doing nothing at all. Words have had absolutely no impact and will continue to do so.
This is more on the right lines of what should be done... ..but it should be outside PL headquarters, rather than parliament.
When the new season starts, there should be protests against the PL at every televised NUFC game. Banners, vocal opposition etc.
You mentioned the other day that the PL were rattled by the statement released, what was that based on? info you received or something else, if you don't mind me asking
And why did the Government get involved? Boris is reported as initially being supportive of the ESL. Wonder what changed his mind? Any thoughts?
Something I was told. I say rattled in respect of the tone of email correspondence. Very defensive and touchy.
They got involved because of the widespread contempt towards the proposal by pretty much everyone in the country and media. Hence, the government put a stop to it as it was a great way of easy good press. The country and media do not give a **** about the NUFC takeover so there wont be anything like the same response from the government due to a few thousand emails. The only thing that would get the government and national press to sit up and take notice of this would be disorder on the streets. As unpalatable as that may be.
The PL are in a unique position. They are a limited company who have entered into a contractual undertaking with 20 other limited companies, all of whom are competing against other. There is a conflict of interest in them acting as regulator of prospective owners based on a subjective test that they themselves apply.
Emails and petitions got the NUST a meeting with Richard Masters. Like it or not, this government can be very populist. They're afraid of offending anyone that could be a voter. That's why Boris pushed for this takeover (among other reasons) and also flip-flopped on the ESL. His drive is money, but as soon as he saw public backlash, he changed his position. The fact we know he wants this deal to go through means it would take phonecall or one of his underlings to spot the petition and before you know it Masters is having to do what he's told. You can only ignore your government for so long.
