Ben Jacobs has dropped an update on the potential takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group, explaining that the consortium who tried to buy the Magpies are ‘watching’ developments on beIN Sports in the Middle East.
As per a tweet from the sports journalist, he spoke to the Gulf Agency Company (GAC) in Riyadh, who were unaware of the report from Reuters that stated that beIN Sports was broadcasted in the KSA on Monday and could not confirm if beIN has been made legal again in the Kingdom.
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Jacobs also added that there is now a legal standoff between the KSA and beIN, as the former’s government want beIN to drop the London arbitration case for damages made by pirate TV broadcaster beoutQ, and the latter want their license back and for the Saudis to drop their World Trade Organization (WTO) appeal.
Jacobs then turned his attention towards Newcastle’s potential buyers, saying that the ‘consortium (are) watching this closely’, adding that sources close to the consortium who proposed the £300m takeover of the St. James’ Park faithful have taken steps to reach out to beIN, but nothing has changed on that front as of yet, with the GAC set to clarify their position soon.
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What does this mean for the potential Newcastle takeover?
If the consortium are indeed monitoring developments in the legal standoff, that confirms they are still eager to get back onto the table with regards to getting their prospective deal with Mike Ashley back on track, something that was reported last week.
However, while the standoff does not directly affect the bid, it may play a part further down the line, with tensions between the KSA, Qatar and the Premier League likely to be eased if the former show games from the top flight to their residents legally through access to an unblocked beIN Sports.
In other news, find out what big transfer claim has been dropped on one former Toon target here!
