Mark Douglas has shed light on the latest development that may well hinder the chances of the proposed £300m takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium from happening.
The Premier League have agreed to extend their current Middle East/North Africa (MENA) TV deal with beIN Sports to cover the period between 2022 and 2025, with it being worth $500m (£367.8m) over the course of the three years.
It also means that the people of the KSA will have to continue to watch games from the Premier League on illegal streams given that the Qatari broadcaster is currently banned in their country.
Douglas has since shed light on the breakthrough news, with The Chronicle journalist claiming that the announcement of the MENA TV deal "feels significant" while highlighting that the fact that the Saudis have not engaged with it shows that ill feeling between the two parties still remain.
He also added that while the resolution to this conflict does not seem to be close at this particular moment in time, the KSA group are not going away and Mike Ashley remains committed to getting the deal done.
Significance to Newcastle takeover
The fact that there is still ill feeling between the Saudis and England's top flight may hinder the chances of the prospective takeover at St. James' Park from happening, and given the already fragile relationship between the KSA and Qatar, the Kingdom may be encouraged to stamp out all forms of piracy in their country once and for all.
In other news, find out which NUFC ace blasted his team's display versus Leeds here!