TV piracy hits Saudi Newcastle takeover – not the beheadings and crucifixions then? | Marina Hyde

Newcastle United fans might not like Mike Ashley much but some things that go on in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia are a little bit more sinister

News that Saudi Arabia may have their eye on acquiring Mike Ashley’s Newcastle United feels as inevitable now as it would have felt insane 20 years ago. The “complicated” nature of the UK’s relationship with the kingdom is so powerful that you can’t expect it to be confined to the mere arms trade or the superprime London property market. Ultimately, the formbook suggests, Saudi Arabia will wish to acquire a huge reputation-laundering machine, with a somewhat smaller stadium-based athletic content facility attached. What we used to think of as “the football club”, if that isn’t going back too far to make sense in this day and age.

Happily, the Saudi regime are not the only ones whose priorities are somewhat out of whack. Only last week, I was marvelling at the point-missing evident in a newspaper headline announcing that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman had “TAUNTED JEFF BEZOS WITH A SEXIST MEME”. Ooh, then now he’s REALLY gone too far. Yet within mere days, that headline’s football equivalent has presented itself, with a warning that “TV piracy row could hit Newcastle takeover bid”. Well, 134 crucifixions between January and September last year … but I guess we found it. TV piracy: the last taboo.

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