WE NEED TO KEEP TALKING ABOUT THE SAUDI DICTATORS WHO OWN NEWCASTLE UNITED

Everyone connected to Newcastle United, from Eddie Howe, to past and present players and fan groups, had an opportunity at the League Cup final to speak up for the victims of the bloody Saudi dictatorship who own our club. They could have shown they really do support the team and not the regime. There was no flag display at the final in solidarity with jailed Saudi women or the minors on death row. Neither did any figure or group connected to the club speak up for the persecuted LGBTQ+ community in Saudi Arabia. It was a missed opportunity.

The response to the letter from Ahmad al-Rabea to Eddie Howe about his brother Hassan who is facing torture and possible execution has also been mixed. Eddie Howe still hasn’t answered. Some fans connected to the fanzines were even hostile to the fact that Ahmad appealed to Eddie Howe, saying we had crossed a red line ‘involving Eddie’! It’s not a ‘red line’ apparently that Hassan could be caught up in another mass execution ordered by Muhammad bin Salman. Something that Saudi human rights activists fear is imminent. 

While the national press has reported Ahmad’s letter to Eddie Howe widely, the North East media have ignored it. It’s not surprising that many accuse them of cheerleading for the Saudi regime/NUFC owners rather than doing their job and holding them to account.

Prince Turki has been dealing with his family’s private fortunes and foreign investments since 2015

The younger brother and ‘consigliere’ of Saudi Arabia’s chief dictator Mohammed bin Salman attended the Cup Final wearing a Newcastle scarf. Key figures in the regime like Turki bin Salman now feel they can publicly associate themselves with our club. NUFCFAS previously reported on how figures from the Saudi dictatorship are associating themselves with Newcastle United. How soon before MbS himself turns up at SJP?

Saudi human rights groups are reporting that a new purge is beginning in the Saudi state . On MbS’s orders 10 judges have been charged with ‘High Treason’ which carries the death sentence. They are accused of being too “lenient” in the State Security cases they presided over during their tenures as SCC judges. Some of these judges sentenced Salma al-Shebab and Nourah al-Qahtani to 34 and 45 years in prison and condemned minors to death. Among the other charges against them is “complacency toward state security criminals.” In other words, MbS and the regime believes the judges were not brutal enough in the sentences they handed down to human rights activists. 

 
We also need to talk about how NUFC and Tyneside are beginning to be perceived in the wider football world. How can the group United With Pride justify their close relationship with the club which is owned by a regime which actively persecutes the LGBTQI+ community in Saudi Arabia? Such is the opposition to their stance United with Pride left Pride in Football, the network of LGBTQ+ fan groups in football.

Last year Newcastle City Council cut ties with a Chinese city over claims the country’s regime has abused Uyghur people including the use of torture, according to a UN report. The BBC reported that; Newcastle has highlighted its status as a City of Sanctuary with “a proud history of promoting the advancement of human rights and standing in solidarity with those oppressed”. Labour cabinet member Jane Byrne said at the time: “We are the beneficiaries of other people’s fight and I believe it is our moral duty to repay that debt by standing in solidarity with all those who are fighting for human rights and democracy today.”

After the Cup final defeat, Cllr Nick Kemp, Leader of Newcastle City Council issued a statement commiserating with fans over the result, but said nothing about the 80% owners. As far as we know Newcastle City Council have not once expressed concerns about the gross human rights abuses committed by the Saudi regime.

Ahmad mentions in his letter that he fears his brother is facing torture. In Saudi Arabia, according to Saudi Leaks, torture is a systemic practise in government institutions. These organisations have direct ties to King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman, and use torture without fear of censure or punishment by depending on the country’s highest political authority. In case anyone needs reminding Muhammad bin Salman is chair of the PIF which owns 80% of Newcastle United. Newcastle City Council can correctly be accused of hypocrisy, torture in China is bad whilst torture in Saudi Arabia, well, let’s sweep that under the carpet and not talk about it.

The letter to Eddie Howe has revealed that lots of fans are torn. More and more are beginning to realise that fans of other clubs are looking at us and wondering why figures connected to the club aren’t saying something about human rights. They aren’t jealous of NUFC’s ‘success’ but outraged that more of our fans and people around the club aren’t speaking out about the human rights abuses committed by the owners.

As Ahmad says in his letter, ‘saying nothing is acceptance’ (“If you say nothing about the gross human rights abuses and violations we are suffering then this is an acceptance of these violations. If you speak out against them you can save lives.”)

NUFC fans are fed the line that we are powerless to affect change in the behaviour of the 80% owners, but their victims tell us that it’s just not true. If Eddie Howe, players, someone like Alan Shearer and most of all fans, spoke up then they would make a huge difference.

There is an unspoken pact of silence between the dictators who own the club, the fanbase and everyone connected with NUFC; say nothing about human rights and we’ll keep pumping in blood money.

Fan groups should make good on their pre-takeover promises to be a ‘critical friend’ to the owners. Eddie Howe said he didn’t have the ‘knowledge’ to say anything about Saudi Arabia and that he would ‘read up on it’. After seventeen months of ownership by MBS and his dictatorship and two visits to Saudi Arabia later by Eddie and the team… surely he can voice an opinion?

Eddie Howe, the players, present and past, fan groups and fanzines and even Labour MPs and councillors (some of whom are season ticket holders) in the North East have all been asked to distance themselves from the Saudi dictatorship and their gross human rights abuses. Few have. By all means support the team, but not this bloody regime. There will be no glory in future victories if we don’t speak up now for Ahmad and his brother Hassan and the many victims of the bloody Saudi dictatorship.

Outside the Tyneside bubble, the football world and especially fans are waking up to the possibility that the Premier League could turn into a kind of Middle East football arms race with the Abu Dhabi, Saudi and Qatar dictatorships vying for power. Fans are rejecting this future. Already, Manchester United Supporters Trust and Spirit of Shankly have signed a joint statement opposing state ownership of football clubs.

NUFCFAS is saying to fellow fans; let’s think about the future of football. It’s not a given that state ownership will always be allowed. We asked Tracey Crouch, the Conservative MP who has played a role in the Fan Led Football Review, live on the BBC, if she would be in favour of a new clause in the Owner’s and Director’s Test which would prohibit state ownership of football clubs and include a ‘respect for human rights’ element. She refused to support that but there is a growing call for that at many levels in football and especially amongst fans. We should not get too used to the Saudi regime’s blood money. The tap is on at the moment but it could just as easily be turned off due to changes in football governance and even global events.

The news that NUFC Chair Yasir al-Rumayyan is claiming in papers submitted to a US court  that he and PIF ‘are not ordinary third parties subject to basic discovery relevance standards’ is no surprise. The Premier League should never have allowed the deal to go through as it meant a sovereign state would be in control of Newcastle United. Now we have in black and white what we knew all along.

This means that the ‘legal and binding assurances’ that the PIF gave the Premier league to facilitate the takeover, that the Saudi government would not interfere in the running of the club were not true as it has been admitted in court that Yasir al-Rumayyan is a government minister.

NATIONAL PRESS vs LOCAL PRESS COVERAGE

The North East’s main newspaper, the Evening Chronicle failed to mention the letter from Ahmad al-Rabea to Eddie Howe, neither did they have space to cover the follow up letter from three organisations, the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, REPRIEVE, and Al-QST which urged Eddie Howe to speak up on human rights. This important news was covered extensively in the national press.

From the @MailOnline Ahmad Al-Rabea wrote that his brother, Hassan, had been abducted at Marrakech Airport in January and taken back to Saudi Arabia where his family fears he’ll be sentenced to death like his other brother Ali for speaking out against the Saudi regime.

‘There will be no glory in victory on Sunday if people who should know better don’t speak up for Ahmed and his brother Hassan and the many victims of the bloody Saudi dictatorship,’ Newcastle United Fans Against Sportswashing.

When the news broke about NUFC Chair and Saudi government minister Yasir al-Rumayyan’s legal problems in the USA, the national media reported the facts immediately, but the Chronicle was slow to respond. Unfortunately the North East media has played mostly a cheerleading role for Saudi dictators who own Newcastle United. This unwillingness to address the issues of having one the bloodiest dictatorships on the planet has created a siege mentality amongst Newcastle fans on Tyneside. Fans believe the national press have got it in for them and are jealous that Newcastle United are joining the ‘big boys.’ Many NUFC fans fail to understand that of other clubs are genuinely concerned about where football is heading if the Saudi regime’s ownership of Newcastle United becomes normalised. Journalists like Sam Cunningham of iNews are abused by Newcastle fans for having the audacity to report the news

Newcastle United fan and Chanel 4 journalist, Alex Thomson wrote a piece in 2012 entitled, ‘When succulent lamb is on the menu – serious questions are off‘ in which he described the way Glasgow journalists stopped doing real journalism about Rangers because of their ‘relationship’ with the club. As one prominent Glasgow tabloid journalist put it: “The press -a really critical check and balance in the normal way of things, had been more or less destroyed in Glasgow.”

Is that not the situation we almost have in Newcastle now between the 80% owners of the club and the Evening Chronicle?

A symbiotic relationship: relationship between organisms where one organism benefits from the association while not harming the other.

Sadly, the NUFC fanzines are adjusting to their new relationship with the club too. The Mag still proclaims to be, ‘THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF NEWCASTLE UNITED SINCE 1988’ – independent of what? Certainly not the owners.

As an article on the NUFCFAS website pointed out the ‘official’ NUFC fan groups and fanzines have managed, through a course of excruciating mental gymnastics to make their peace with the fact the club is owned by a bloody bunch of dictators: “True Faith has published two submissions from NUFC Against Sportswashing on their website, but attached lengthy disclaimers to each of them distancing themselves from the content. These are the only articles I have seen them publish that have received this treatment. There does need to be a platform for an alternative view on the club’s ownership, but I do not think that either of these groups can provide this.”

There should be no ‘normalisation’ of our historic club being owned by a bloody, theocratic, human rights abusing dictatorship.

IRISH TD CALLS ON TAOISEACH TO CONDEMN POSSIBLE MASS EXECUTIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA

@MickBarryTD called on Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach (Irish PM) in the Dáil to condemn possible impending executions of 61 people in Saudi Arabia.

Watch Video of Mick Barry asking question about executions in Saudi Arabia

Mick Barry said that according to the European Saudi organisation for Human Right (ESOHR) @ESOHumanRights, at least 61 people are on death row. ESOHR also believes that the number is higher due to the lack of transparency of the Saudi government provided information.

Mick Barry also mentioned that ESOHR are calling for an international day of action in February in protest over the threatened executions.

Newcastle United Football Club are owned by the Saudi regime which uses mass executions to terrorise the opposition and population. If an Irish TD can raise this urgent issue in parliament then so can North East Labour MPs, media and fan groups.

Before the Saudi takeover of #NUFC some North East politicians promised they would engage with the new owners and hold them to account. Fan group NUST said they would be a ‘critical friend’ to the owners while @worflags said; “If we felt that the Saudis were abusing women’s rights, we would consider a display featuring a female fan in a black and white top”.

The Saudi dictatorship which owns 80% of #NUFC executed 81 people the day before the team played Chelsea last season. With another 61 Saudis (including 8 minors) facing possible execution, surely it is time for #NUFCFans, North East Labour MPs and fan groups to do what they promised to do and speak up for human rights and the victims of the Saudi dictators who own #NUFC?

IF THAT WAS DONE THEN #NUFCFANS COULD WIN BACK A LOT OF RESPECT WHICH IS BEING LOST EVERYDAY BY NOT SPEAKING UP ABOUT THE GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED BY THE OWNERS OF OUR CLUB. IF NOT NOW – THEN WHEN? DON’T LET #SPORTSWASHING WIN

NUFC FANS AGAINST SPORTSWASHING SPEAK AT THE EUROPEAN SAUDI ORGANISATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE

NUFCFAS were honoured to be invited to speak at the recent third annual ESOHR conference of victims of Saudi violations. It was humbling to hear first hand the testimonies of victims of Saudi state oppression and makes us even more determined to continue our campaign to expose the 80% owners of our club.

#NUFCFans #NUFCinRiyadh #NUFC

Below is a transcript of what we said:

Newcastle is city of about 290,000 people in the North East of England. The traditional industries were shipbuilding, engineering and mining. It therefore has strong working class traditions of unity and solidarity. The people of Newcastle are called Geordies and we even have our own distinctive dialect as you can hear!

There is one football team in the city and supporting Newcastle United is part of our cultural heritage. The team, despite not winning anything for over 50 years has massive support with 52,000 attending matches.

On October 7th 2021 there was a collective outpouring of joy in Newcastle when the Saudi state takeover was announced. This was mainly relief to see the former owner go. Unbelievably, the Premier League had declared that the Saudi dictators are ‘fit and proper’ owners for a football club. This is something I will talk about later.

The Saudi regime had been carefully preparing the ground for the takeover for over a year. They have a contract with US PR firm Edelman for $800,000.

The role of the North East press has been lamentable. They have acted like a giant megaphone, cheer leading for the regime. Obviously money talks.

Some examples from a recent article by Andrew Page of NUFCFAS. Before the takeover, when the Saudi Minister for Sport, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, followed the club’s Twitter account back in April 2020, the story was reported by Newcastle’s regional paper, the Evening Chronicle.

The sports minister’s father is Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, who also served in the Saudi government. He resigned from his position as Director General of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency — a post he had held for 23 years — 10 days before the attack on the Twin Towers.

He was instrumental in cementing the Taliban’s power in Afghanistan. In 2003 he admitted on a live call-in show that 6 British men had been tortured by his intelligence agents.

The Chronicle didn’t think to mention any of this information about the sports minister’s family, instead preferring to enthuse about the prospects for the takeover.

And at the final home match of last season, The Chronicle reported that the club’s new director Majed Al Sorour had publicly thanked the Ambassador to the UK Prince Khalid bin Bandar for attending the match. There is no mention of the associations of these figures or their roles in the Saudi dictatorship.
These are the type of people who are now able to publicly associate themselves with our football club without members of the North East media commenting on who they really are. These are clear examples of sportswashing.

Now, I will say a word about the role of North East politicians since the takeover. Most of the representatives are from the Labour Party. They have been as bad as the media and in some cases worse.

The MP for Newcastle Central had spoken out against human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia in parliament before the takeover.

At the time of the takeover we had the spectacle of the Labour leader of Newcastle City Council metaphorically laying out the red carpet for the regime. Vague promises of investment, obviously, having been made

However, since the takeover the MPs and councillors have been mostly silent.

The press continue to claim that the PIF is not the Saudi state, yet in one year the links between the state and the club have got stronger. In January 2022, Eddie Howe took the team to Jeddah where they trained and played a match. In the same week, Saudi Arabia launched missile attacks on Yemen, one of which killed three children playing football.

The club is now sponsored by Saudi companies, Noon, Saudia and the e-sports brand Vov.

The narrative the regime has managed to establish with the help of the media and the silence of politicians is as follows:

1.Fans are powerless. The Premier League declared the Saudi state ‘fit and proper’ to own a football club.

2. The PIF is separate from the Saudi state.

3. What about Manchester City? What about Chelsea? Known as ‘Whataboutery.’

4. If we ‘engage’ with the Saudi state, then perhaps we can moderate and liberalise them.

This narrative is reinforced in the media and repeated in the fan magazines, known as fanzines, although we have managed to get our alternative voice heard.

Obviously we do not accept this narrative.

So, what did we do? A small group of fans opposed to the Saudi state owning our club decided to launch a campaign.

We set up Twitter and Facebook accounts. We held online meetings during the pandemic and in August we held a public meeting in Newcastle, where we showed two documentaries about the Saudi state’s bloody war in Yemen.

We launched a Fanzine, called, ‘Hailstones in the Desert’ It is named in homage to brave Saudi human rights activists. In the UK anyone who stands for human rights is usually called a ‘snowflake’ and we faced that insult on social media, so we turned it round and said to stand up for human rights, especially in Saudi Arabia, you have to be hard, like a hailstone.

Little by little we have been noticed and had our voice heard in the media. Firstly in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. This reflects the international nature of football. Around the anniversary of the takeover this year we made big breakthroughs in establishing our campaign.

Articles and interviews were carried in the main North East newspapers and we appeared on Radio and TV. Now we are becoming the reference point for the media when they talk about sportswashing in the North East.

With the help of ESOHR we produced a banner and held a protest outside of Newcastle’s stadium before the match against Chelsea this season. We highlighted the cases of the eight Saudi minors facing the death penalty.

The protest received good coverage and sparked a debate amongst fans.

Before the protest we received physical threats and the attention of the troll army directed from the Etidal Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyad.

As we said to the press before the protest: The worrying aspect of the ongoing Saudi ownership of the club is that, not only have they managed to neutralise the majority of fans regarding their human rights abuses, they’ve managed to get a minority of fans to actually defend and speak up for them. That’s why we have to protest.

Regarding the protest however, we knew the vast majority of fans would respect our right to be there and so it proved. Many fans stopped to speak to us and find out our point of view, which shows the potential for our campaign to win hearts and minds.

So, where now? We have a new edition of the fanzine coming out soon which will feature an article by a Saudi football fan.

The campaign rests on three pillars:

1.Use the fanzine and future protests to involve more fans in our campaign

2. Change the Premier League’s ‘Owners’ and Directors’’ rule. ALQST and FairSquare have written to North East MPs urging them to speak out. Given the record of the political representatives so far, we do not expect too much at the moment. That is why it is vitally important we build the grassroots fans movement.

3. Listen to the voices of the victims of the Saudi state enable those voices to be heard in Newcastle by fans. Up until recently the narrative has been controlled by the Saudi dictators who own our club, through their sophisticated and well financed PR machine.

Yesterday, a speaker mentioned the effect a letter from a victim to Lewis Hamilton had. We would like to see letters from victims and the families of victims sent to Eddie Howe, the Newcastle manager, who claims he doesn’t have enough knowledge of the situation in Saudi Arabia to comment on the situation regarding human rights. Let’s give Eddie and the players the knowledge! Let them hear the voices of the victims as well as the perpetrators of human rights abuses!

There is also work to do on the question of women’s rights. Newcastle United have a women’s team. One of the minority owners, Amanda Staveley is the public face of the women’s team. We pointed out the contradiction of having 80% owners of our club who discriminate so viciously against women. We brought up the cases of Salma al-Shebab and Nourah al-Qahtani and incredibly some fans repeated the lies from the Etidal Global Centre, that these two women are terrorists. This is another example of using the ownership of our club to sportswash away their crimes.

Newcastle United have spent the last week in Riyadh. The week-long, warm weather training camp is clearly a massive propaganda opportunity for the Saudi dictators to divert attention away from their many crimes against the Saudi people. Worryingly, as well they have used the visit to try and incorporate a layer of fans into actively supporting and speaking up for the owners. That is why the campaign by Newcastle Fans against sportswashing is so important. We have to stop the normalisation of the regime and counter the idea that we can’t do anything to show solidarity to Saudis suffering human rights abuses.

Amongst the media and political class and a layer of fans there is a worshipping of the ‘accomplished fact’ of the club being owned by a bloody dictatorship, yet the more we campaign we find more fans who are unhappy with the situation. Hardly any Newcastle fans support what the regime is doing, but at the same time they aren’t sure what can do to oppose them. It’s our job, with people like you to show them a way.

We’ve had enough of listening to the propaganda from the Saudi state in the North East. It’s time to hear the voices of Saudi people who are suffering under the oppression of the 80% owners of our club.

It’s a battle for hearts and minds and although we don’t have the multi-million resources of the Saudi state, we know our cause is just and we will prevail. #NUFCFans #NUFCinRiyadh #NUFC

NEW #NUFC fanzine on football and human rights launched

As the new season begins we are launching a NEW #NUFC fanzine on football and human rights.

This Fanzine and campaign group is open to all NUFC fans, but especially those who OPPOSE the takeover of our club by the murderous Saudi theocratic regime.

We also want to reach out and discuss with fans who are uncomfortable with the present regime but see no real alternative to the present owners at the moment.

Request your copy by sending an email to: johnahird@fastmail.fm – Put ‘Hailstones in the Desert’ in the subject.

Or download from this link: Hailstones in the Desert Nº1

Suggested donation £3 – PayPal johnahird@fastmail.fm

OUR GOALS

This Fanzine and campaign group is open to all NUFC fans, but especially those who OPPOSE the takeover of our club by the murderous Saudi theocratic regime. 

The North East press and media is lamentably, almost entirely pro the Saudi dictators owning our historic club. 

We therefore offer this fanzine as a voice for fans who are against the selling of the soul and tradition of Newcastle United to the one of the most oppressive governments on the planet. 

We also want to reach out and discuss with fans who are uncomfortable with the present regime but see no real alternative to the present owners at the moment. 

CONTENTS – HAILSTONES IN THE DESERT Nº1

Page 2 Our Goals. Why ‘Hailstones in the Desert’?  Page 3 Original Campaign statement. United with Pride – Time to revisit ‘welcome’ statement?  Page 4 Moral dilemma Page 5 A Vision of something better. Oppose Homophobia EVERYWHERE!  Page 6 & 7 A SAFC Fan writes.  Page 7 & 8 Interview with BOYCOTT QATAR 2022 Campaign. Page 9 & 10 Sportswashing beyond football Page 10 Women’s rights – How sport washing works Page 11 The Saudi 3rd strip Page 12 PIF and Saudi state: Time to face the ugly truth Page 13 Victims of the Saudi Dictators/NUFC owners Page 14 Lest we forget – Jamal Khashoggi Page 14 North East Representatives need to act. Page 14 Labour MPs and the Saudi owners  Page 15 Campaign Memes Page 16 Saudi war crimes in Yemen

No To Sportswashing! Reclaim The Game!

John Hird recounts the moral dilemma he faced when his beloved football team, Newcastle United (NUFC), were bought by a bloody, theocratic, dictatorship.

Solidarity with Human Rights campaigners in Saudi Arabia

What would you do, if, overnight, your football club became the richest in the world, but the price you had to pay was that the new owners were a bunch of dictators with one of the worst human rights records on the planet?

As a lifelong Newcastle United fan, that was the dilemma I faced last October when the bloody, theocratic, Saudi dictatorship took over my club. Would I sit on the fence like many fans and say, “of course the new owners have ‘issues’ with human rights, but there’s nothing we can do” while imagining Messi running out to play in a black-and-white shirt? Or would I stand by my principles and oppose the takeover?

I decided that some things are more important than football, namely the lives and, unfortunately, deaths of brave human rights activists, women, LGBT+ people and bonded workers in Saudi Arabia who are denied basic rights and face imprisonment, floggings and even beheading. 

We set up a campaign called ‘Sack the Saudi dictators! RECLAIM the Game and NUFC!’  and started campaigning on social media. Other fans joined and immediately we had to face an extremely well-financed PR machine which has tried to silence opposition to the dirty deal. Mohammed Bin Salman, aka the ‘the butcher of Yemen’ and de facto head dictator of Saudi Arabia, has his cyber henchmen using thousands of bots on social media to close down criticism of their appalling human rights record.

We hit back with memes, tweets and articles. The battle to win hearts and minds began and we appealed to our fellow fans, arguing that football has come a long way regarding racism, sexism and LGBT+ rights, although with clear problems remaining. However, the Saudi takeover of NUFC puts that progress in danger. There can be no double standards. We support human rights at our club and in Saudi Arabia. Beheadings, discrimination against LGBT+ people, arrest, torture and abuse of women activists, exploitation of bonded labour and war crimes in Yemen are not mere ‘issues’, but gross human rights abuses.

The longer the dictators stay, the more they will stain our club’s reputation. The deal has wider implications for the whole of football. Is it right that any state, including a state like Saudi Arabia, which has such an appalling human rights record, be allowed to own a football club? The Saudi dictators are using their vast wealth to divert attention away from their many crimes. This is called ‘sportswashing’ and is a tactic used by other undemocratic regimes such as China, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. 

The recent Spanish Super Cup mini tournament in Saudi Arabia is another example of how the bloody regime is using football to massage their bad image. The Saudis have also put on the table a €100m-a-season sponsorship deal with financially strapped FC Barcelona. If the offer is accepted, the club’s motto will have to be changed from, “Més que un club” to “More than hypocrites!”  ☞☞  page 2 Hopefully, Barça fans will rise up and put a stop to their club being infected by the dictators’ money. 

#NUFC players and staff recently visited Jeddah, the port city of #Saudi Arabia. On the day they set off, Saudi missiles were fired at Yemen. At least 70 people were killed including three children playing on a football field in Hudaida. 

NUFC’s visit was a ‘welcome’ distraction from the attack on Yemen. Newcastle players were given the red carpet treatment and news of the deaths was ‘forgotten.’ This is how sportswashing works and why it must be opposed.

By John Hird

Original appeared in English Coaching Projects S.Coop WEEKLY ENGLISH PUBLICADO EL 15/02/2022

AUDIO

Saudi takeover of NUFC – ‘All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand’.

Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS), Crown Prince, aka the ‘butcher of Yemen’

So, the bloody, theocratic Saudi dictatorship has taken over NUFC. Lest we forget, the man behind the Saudi Public Investment Fund – the state’s sovereign wealth fund is Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS), Crown Prince, aka the ‘butcher of Yemen’ and the person who ordered the murder of Yamal Jashogyi, the Saudi journalist who was tortured then killed in the Saudi embassy in Turkey.

Many NUFC fans are making convoluted arguments to justify the takeover, ‘anyone is better than Ashley’ and too many, unfortunately are looking the other way.

As as Newcastle fan, ask yourself honestly, can you support the takeover of NUFC by a regime and individuals who are directly involved in:

• The bombing and murder of civilians in Yemen
• The exploitation of migrant workers akin to bonded labour and even slavery
• Having the worst workers’ rights in the region and paying starvation wages# treating women as minors and second class citizens in a ‘legal’ sex segregation, gender apartheid judicial system
• The absolute discrimination of LGBT people including punishments of fines, public whippings, beatings, vigilante attacks, chemical castrations, prison time up to life, capital punishment and other forms of torture.

Newcastle fans say but ‘a Premier League team is already owned by a Middle Eastern billionaire.’ Other clubs are owned by the obscenely wealthy of Russia and the USA. Many expensive properties and businesses are owned by corrupt overseas owners. Britain has massive business ties with China and Israel. All that is true but that does not make this takeover right.

During the Coronavirus crisis the millionaire owners of clubs like Liverpool, Newcastle, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Norwich outraged working class fans by initially and cynically taking advantage of the government scheme, under which employers can claim for 80% of furloughed employees’ wages, while star players remained on astronomical salaries. Under pressure these clubs were forced to back down. This is an answer to fans who think public pressure and campaigning cannot stop the Saudi takeover.

Also, fan power forced the so-called ‘Big Clubs’ to withdraw from the so called, European ‘Super’ League.

Ultimately, the future of football lies in reclaiming the game for the people with the model of fan and community run clubs along the lines of some Spanish and German clubs. Many fans are sceptical about how this can be achieved, although agreeing it is a good idea in an ideal world.Ashley is set to make another fortune by selling the club. Fans ask how they could possibly get that kind of money together to buy the club? Many believe this is not achievable and that is why they passively go along with the Saudi deal.

If we remain within the confines of big business and the inflated prices in corporate football we will not get anywhere. We need to look beyond the business model of capitalist, fat cat run football. Football came from the working class and we need to reclaim the game.

The Coronavirus crisis and economic crisis has shown the weakness of capitalism and the football business is not immune to this. In the Spanish La Liga the club in the best position financially at the moment is the fan owned club Athletic Bilbao, mainly because they only play with Basque players and they do not have the multimillion inflated wage bills of other clubs.

Joaquín Caparrós, ex-Athletic coach, now in charge of Armenia has said there will be a before and after the Coronavirus crisis for football. He says that football fans will demand restrictions on player’s wages and clubs like Athletic who encourage local talent and have invested in young players rather than spending obscene amounts on transfer fees and wages could have an advantage post-Coronavirus.

The movements against cut throat capitalist Mike Ashley over the years have been sizeable and shows the potential for public involvement and action. NUFC fans have protested against the Ashley regime and linked their opposition to his chairmanship of the club to his exploitation of workers at Sports Direct.

Socialists and trade unionists who are NUFC fans have consistently opposed Ashley and campaigned to get him out of our club. However, we must be absolutely clear about this: Newcastle fans have no business supporting the takeover of NUFC by a consortium largely financed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

We also need to expose the hypocrisy of the fat cats who run football. Premier League rules prohibit minor criminal offenders from ownership, but do not require any scrutiny of those accused of being war criminals, human rights abusers or murderers like MbS.

The Premier League cannot be allowed to let MbS to ‘sportswash’ the Saudi regime. NUFC fans cannot look the other way. We must say no to the war criminal, human rights abuser and accused murderer taking over the club.

In 2005 American businessman Malcolm Glazer’s takeover of Manchester United was opposed by fans. Ultimately Glazer bought the club and many fans decided that was a bridge too far and decided to set up FC United of Manchester. The success of this fan led club has been a reflection of working class fan’s desire to bring football back to its local and community roots.

NUFC’s fans may have not reached that breaking point yet but we are near to it. Many NUFC fans have voted with their feet during Ashley’s cynical, money grabbing regime and as bad as it has been, Saudi blood stained money has to be rejected.

Ashley has to go but Bin Salman is not the solution. Big business cannot be trusted to run our club, neither can the Saudi dictatorship.

Polls claim 93% of NUFC fans are in favour of the takeover by the murderous Saudi regime. This can be explained by 14 years of having Ashley in control of the club, but also the deafening silence from Labour MPs on the issue. Too scared of going against so called ‘public opinion’ whipped up the the local paper the Evening Chronicle, manipulated by PR consultants, highly paid by the Saudi regime.

The Premier League meekly accepted the Saudi regime’s pledge that they would not interfere in the running of the club. Money talks. However, the Saudi press spells out the intentions of Mohammed Bin Salman clearly, “Breakthrough $410m deal gives Kingdom a seat at top table of European football.” (Arab News)

Pundits like Alan Shearer inevitably fall into line and use twisted logic to suggest that having a theocratic dictatorship take over NUFC will help to reform them!
“I understand also that questions have to be asked with the human rights issues, it’s really important we don’t brush it under the carpet. We have to educate ourselves and this I think this will only highlight it even more.”

However, many fans, although a minority at the moment are not taken in by this nonsense. Socialists and figures in the labour movement need to stand up and be counted on this issue. Give a lead and expose this grubby deal for what it is, ‘sportswashing’ on a monumental scale. All the perfumes and money of Arabia will not sweeten this deal or wipe away their crimes. NUFC fans in time, will come to regret looking the other away on this.

Ashley has dragged the club through the mud, now it will literally be dragged through blood.
As many have argued for years, the only solution for NUFC is a takeover by the fans.

• ASHLEY OUT!
• NO TO THE TAKEOVER OF NUFC BY THE MURDEROUS SAUDI REGIME!
• SACKTHEBOARD
• RECLAIM THE GAME!
• FOR A FAN”S TAKEOVER OF NUFC

By John Andrew Hird

Newcastle United Fans Against Sportswashing speak at Saudi Human Rights Conference

NUFCFAS were honoured to be asked to speak at the third annual conference of the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights. John Hird, @txantxangorri a founding member of NUFCFAS spoke about the campaign to highlight the human rights abuses of the NUFC owners in Saudi Arabia and to prevent the Saudi dictatorship using Newcastle United as an instrument to sportswash away their crimes against the Saudi people.

SACK THE SAUDI DICTATORS! RECLAIM the Game and NUFC!

FILM SCREENING & PUBLIC AT MEETING FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE West Avenue, Gosforth (Off Gosforth High St) Wednesday, August 24th at 18’30- 21’00

Andrew Feinstein, campaigner, ex-ANC MP, & writer of ‘The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade.’ Two short films on the arms trade and the Saudi war on Yemen.

John Hird will launch new #NUFC Fanzine, ‘Hailstones in the Desert.’

Time for discussion. ALL WELCOME

Contact campaign: nosauditoon@protonmail.com

DOWNLOAD Fanzine Nº1

Our new fanzine is HERE! ‘Hailstones in the Desert’ Nº1 

Articles on the victims of the Saudi state/#NUFC owners, #CancelQatar2022, #sportswashing & more. 

Download here  (suggested £3 donation) PayPal johnahird@fastmail.fm

HAILSTONES IN THE DESERT

NUFC: THE ’SUPPORT THE TEAM, NOT THE REGIME’ CONUNDRUM

It’s excruciating and sad to witness the mental gymnastics of so many NUFC fans regarding the Saudi dictators / club owners.

It started with the the Shearer line, echoed unfortunately by the North East media and disgracefully by Labour politicians, who should know better. Summarised thus: The bloody, theocratic Saudi regime leaves much to be desired but it is better to engage with them and persuade them to temper their ways (and of course long suffering Geordies deserve success). In this world, gross human rights abuses and a record number of beheadings in one day, are relegated, euphemistically to the status of mere ‘issues.’

It then goes to; there are other clubs with nasty people running them, so if you criticise us you’re a hypocrite.

Egged on by a well oiled and expensive Saudi PR machine and social media trolls, echoed in the Evening Chronicle and unfortunately repeated by too many fans this, ‘sitting on the fence’ position morphs into: Why is everyone picking on us? Why do people keep raising Saudi atrocities? They’re victimising us, we’re Geordies, and we of course deserve some sporting success, (Have we already said this?)

That fence sitting advances to, let’s keep quiet about Saudi atrocities and praise and defend our owners, because Chelsea, Man City and the rest have bought success with dirty money, then why not us?

Let’s remember the Saudis didn’t buy NUFC because they love Geordies and Tyneside. They bought the club as part of their 2030 Vision to diversify and divert attention away from the crimes of their vicious dictatorship. Unfortunately, they have managed to silence many people who you would think would be critics of the takeover and let’s be honest about this, have even gained a base amongst fans who claim sportswashing doesn’t exist and spend their time starting every discussion on the subject with, ‘what about….?’

Far from exerting pressure on the Saudi dictators to change their ways it seems so far that the dictators have neutralised criticism and gained an army of ready made apologists. Surely we can do better than that?

Another argument put forward to passively go along with the Saudi dictator’s takeover of NUFC was that fans are ‘powerless’ to do anything. How true is that? Many fans were involved in campaigns and protests against Ashley which obviously did have an effect because eventually he sold up. The protests of fans of the ‘Big Six’ clubs were key to stopping the breakaway European Super League. If it was correct to protest against Ashley’s ownership of the club and the appalling zero-hour employment practices at Sports Direct inside SJP, then surely we can criticise the NUFC owners for their appalling human rights abuses and bloody war in Yemen?

The British public have responded magnificently to the plight of the Ukrainian people and Roman Abramovich has correctly been deemed unfit to be a club owner. NUFC fans are in a unique position to offer help and solidarity to the people of Yemen and the dissidents in Saudi who face torture and public execution. We should be finding ways to tell the NUFC owners that their behaviour is unacceptable.

There is an unanswered question in this ’support the team, not the regime’ conundrum; if we’re going to reform the Saudi regime how does that happen if we don’t ever criticise or raise objections about their horrendous crimes against humanity? Rather than NUFC fans flying such a regime’s flag at matches, shouldn’t WOR FLAGS be making banners which offer solidarity to the many victims of the NUFC owners?

The idea of ‘support the team, not the regime’ will increasingly become untenable. Any success we may achieve as a club on the field will always be tainted because we are being bankrolled by a bloody, theocratic dictatorship. There is no getting away from that.

Ultimately the future of Saudi ownership at NUFC will be decided elsewhere and could be a much shorter duration than many fans imagine. Declaring Abramovich unqualified has set a precedent.

The Sports minister has given a commitment that an independent regulator for football will be set up and recognised that a more robust Owners and Directors test (ODT) is needed. The Premier League is under pressure to include a human rights clause in a new ODT. The ground and public opinion in the game is shifting.

While not having too much faith in the government’s and the Premier League’s genuine commitment to clean up football and turn off the tap of dirty money, they may be forced to, by the very world events, of which Eddie Howe is well aware. A new ODT with a human rights clause would mean the ownership of Manchester City and Newcastle United would have to be reviewed for a start.

But before that happens I’d like to think that just maybe, after the 81 beheadings, ordered by the NUFC owners, the night before the game against Chelsea, the penny may be starting to drop with NUFC fans. There is no way round it. THERE IS NO COEXISTENCE WITH THE SAUDI DICTATORS. This regime of war dictatorship and torture should have nothing to do with our football club.

By John Hird (thanks to M.E. for pointing out the conundrum and contradictions)

Human rights must be a key component of the Owner’s and Director’s Test for any new owners. And a rigorous review should be carried out into existing owners of Premier League clubs and their respect for human rights.

PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE THE PETITION

PREMIER LEAGUE – ABRAMOVICH GONE – SAUDI DICTATORS NEXT…..

Chelsea vs Newcastle was dubbed, ‘the game of shame’ and who can argue with that? A club owned by an ally of Putin versus our club, owned by a bunch of bloody theocratic dictators who on the eve of the match broke their own world record for the number of people executed in one day. 

The beheadings are a cold dose of reality for pundits, politicians and fans in the North East who claimed allowing a dictatorship to own our club would somehow nudge them towards reform.

As Soraya Bauwens, the deputy director of Reprieve, a London-based advocacy group said, 

“The world should know by now that when Mohammed bin Salman promises reform, bloodshed is bound to follow.”

Clearly, “engagement” does not work and these bloody dictators have to get out of our club before they damage our reputation any further. 

If Roman Abramovich is belatedly deemed “unqualified” to be a football club director by the Premier League, for being an ally of Putin, then surely the owners of NUFC, who abuse human rights and wage a war in Yemen which has caused the deaths of up to 230,000 people, are not fit or proper custodians of our club?

Not many fellow Newcastle fans will defend the recent horrific actions of the Saudi state / NUFC owners but surely it is time to get off the fence? The longer such a regime is associated with our club the more our reputation is stained.

Given the heinous nature of the human rights abuses, use of the death penalty and bloody war on Yemen by the Saudi dictatorship / NUFC owners, it is correct that manager Eddie Howe is asked about his employers by journalists. This issue is not going to go away and better answers are needed to new questions.

A growing number of NUFC fans are campaigning to get the Premier League to insert a human rights clause in the Owner’s and Director’s Test which they are presently reviewing. We welcome MP Chi Onwurah condemning the beheadings and raising the question of dirty money in English football in parliament on Tuesday, March 15th. However, we think she has to go much further and we call on her and the other North East MPs who are also NUFC season ticket holders to support our petition and campaign to have a human rights test for present and future Premier League club owners. Once that is done, just as there is no place for allies of Putin in football, then neither can a foreign dictatorship be allowed anywhere near Newcastle United to damage our proud tradition. In football, there cannot be one rule for oligarchs and another for bloody dictators.

John Hird

Sack the Saudi Dictators – RECLAIM the Game and NUFC!

 

PUT A HUMAN RIGHTS CLAUSE IN ODT – PETITION 

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/make-human-rights-a-condition-in-premier-league-ownership-test?source=twitter&

CHELSEA vs NEWCASTLE: “GAME OF SHAME” KICK ALL OLIGARCHS & DICTATORS OUT OF FOOTBALL!

Chelsea vs Newcastle has been dubbed, ‘the game of shame’ and who can argue with that? A club owned by an ally of Putin versus our club, owned by a bunch of bloody theocratic dictators who on the eve of the match broke their own world record for the number of people executed in one day.

The beheadings are a cold dose of reality for pundits, politicians and fans who claimed allowing a dictatorship to own our club would somehow nudge them towards reform.

As Soraya Bauwens, the deputy director of Reprieve, a London-based advocacy group said:

“The world should know by now that when Mohammed bin Salman promises reform, bloodshed is bound to follow.”

Clearly, “engagement” does not work and these bloody dictators have to get out of our club before they damage our reputation any further.

If Roman Abramovich is belatedly deemed “unqualified” to be a football club director by the Premier League, for being an ally of Putin, then surely the owners of NUFC, who abuse human rights and wage a war in Yemen which has caused the deaths of up to 230,000 people, are not fit or proper custodians of our club.

Legal action could be taken against the Premier League over the ODT. There cannot be one rule for oligarchs and another for bloody dictators.

The Saudi PIF
There is a large amount of disquiet over the ownership of Newcastle United by the Saudi PIF.
It is well documented that Bin Salman and the Saudi regime were to blame for the murder and dismemberment of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A UN human rights expert stated that Saudi Arabia was responsible for the “premeditated execution” of the journalist.

It is similarly well documented that they are responsible for torture and for having people beheaded, crucified and stoned to death, in many cases after what are considered to be unfair trials.
Bin Salman and those around him, also oversee the oppression of women and LGBT+ people in Saudi Arabia. The 2021 Amnesty International report on Saudi Arabia details numerous human rights abuses by the present owners of NUFC.

The Saudi state has caused one of the world’s greatest humanitarian tragedies today in Yemen. According to Unicef, over 11 million children in Yemen are currently in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.We note that human rights organisations call for a ban on arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of their actions in Yemen. Last year the European parliament called for an end to arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The joint motion urged EU nations to use all tools, to ‘hold all perpetrators of severe human rights violations to account.’

Many people on Tyneside have relatives in Yemen.

Is it right that a regime, which is criticised in such a severe way by international bodies, should be in charge of our great and historic club?
We believe that the Saudi regime’s ownership of Newcastle United is little more than ‘sportswashing’, attempting to clean up their image – while continuing to persecute and murder opponents and commit gross human rights abuses.

NUFC Owners under the spotlight
In the light of the sanctions against Russian oligarchs and sportspeople, the Premier League is considering adding a human rights component to its owners’ and directors’ test, as it conducts a review of the controversial regulation.

We welcome the fact that a new beefed up ODT will include a human rights clause and this will surely mean a rigorous review of all present owners will have to take place.
Human rights must be a key component of the Owner’s and Director’s Test for any new owners. Our petition can be signed here. Please share widely.

Speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit, Amanda Staveley said, “There will always be geo-political issues. Sad that someone [Roman Abramovich] is having a club taken away from them because of the relationship they may have, I don’t think that’s fair.”

She would say that, wouldn’t she? Clearly, if Putin supporting oligarchs are unfit owners of a football club, then surely her partners, the Saudi dictators, who have committed numerous human rights abuses and bombarded Yemen, causing a humanitarian crisis, should not have a 80% stake in NUFC?

Amanda Staveley
The BBC has revealed that Amanda Staveley has admitted, four and a half months after the event, that she borrowed the money to buy her 10% stake in the club. In papers submitted to the High Court, Amanda Staveley admits she acquired a £10 million loan from previous owner Mike Ashley and borrowed £30 million in total. It is also emerging that Amanda Staveley’s claim that she sold a New York hotel to fund her stake in the club is false and that in fact the Reuben brothers gave it to her for ‘facilitating’ the deal.

It should also worry NUFC fans that a spokesman for Staveley’s PCP Capital holdings had previously stated in public that she had not borrowed money from Ashley’s St James Holdings. Given this new information we believe the Premier League should reinvestigate to decide if the new owners are really fit and proper proprietors of Newcastle United.

The carefully molded and well paid for Saudi PR campaign cannot divert attention away from the serious issues raised in the High Court. Is it right that one of the new owners can borrow money from the previous owner?

What is a football club?
The 80% ownership of Newcastle United by the Saudi PIF, raises a number of important questions not just for NUFC fans, our region, but also the whole of football and its future direction.

Surely a football club, especially NUFC, should be more than just a money-making vehicle for shady, and in the case of the Saudi PIF, murderous characters? Is a football club really just 11 players on a pitch, or does it represent and say something deeper about the place and people it represents? Is it important for fans to be able to feel part of the club and that they can feel proud of their club both on and off the pitch? We believe that the answer to those questions is a resounding yes.

As fans we need to discuss what values should underpin a football club and what say fans should have in the running of their football clubs.

The question must be asked too, should any state be allowed to own a local football club in another country? This point has serious implications for the whole of football. If Saudi state ownership of NUFC is not challenged and eventually overturned, then the way is opened for any dodgy regime to buy up our clubs and use them as their political playthings to divert attention away from their human rights abuses, wars and obnoxious policies.

Supporters of the Saudi takeover of NUFC deny that sportswashing exists. Newcastle United’s visit to Jeddah, was a clear example of how it works. On the day NUFC players and staff set off, Saudi missiles were fired at Yemen. At least 70 people were killed including three children playing on a football field in Hudaida.

NUFC’s visit was a ‘welcome’ distraction from the attack on Yemen. Newcastle players were given the red carpet treatment and news of the deaths was ‘forgotten.’ How many NUFC fans know that three Yemeni kids were killed while playing on a football pitch by Saudi missiles, when our team was on its way to Saudi Arabia? Not many, unfortunately. This is how sportswashing works and why it must be opposed.
Recent events in Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and Yemen mean that the wider football world are talking again about what a fit and proper owners’ test for Premier League club owners and directors should really mean – and whether the Saudi PIF, RN Sports and Media and PCP Capital partners are indeed fit and proper owners of Newcastle United. NUFC cannot ignore this reality forever. Sooner or later the bloody, theocratic Saudi dictators will be forced out of our club.

A Vision of Something Better
All fans need to discuss how supporters can work together to make Newcastle United a football club to be proud of on and off the pitch post PIF. A football club that is run for football reasons and not for shabby sports washing motives. We believe Newcastle United supporters should be able to own at least 51% of their football club and so we can really and truly, “get our club back”.

As NUFC fans we especially invite our fellow fans who have been on the fence regarding the takeover of our club by the Saudi state to reflect and start a dialogue with those of us who have opposed it from the strat. We also appeal to fanzine editors and readers, members of fans groups like United With Pride and campaigns such as Kick it Out and Show Racism the Red Card to join the debate.

We are also appealing directly to North East political representatives. As MPs and councillors and season ticket holders they have a duty to speak out on the issue of a bloody, theocratic dictatorship owning Newcastle United. Many fans would like to know why they have said nothing on the issue.

Aside from events on the pitch, a serious and open discussion is needed amongst the fan base, about the long term implications of our great and historic club being associated with a bloody dictatorship.