EPL CEO Richards Unable To Confirm Who Owns Newcastle United

The chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Masters, has told lawmakers that he cannot confirm whether the top-flight English football league has launched an investigation into who has control of Newcastle United.

Court documents published in the United States last month described the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) as a "sovereign instrumentality of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," raising fresh questions over the link between the PIF and the Saudi state.

The Premier League had allowed the PIF-led takeover of Newcastle in October 2021, after it received "legally-binding assurances" that the Saudi state would not have control of the club.

Newcastle United Flag

However, the human rights group Amnesty International urged the league to look again at the takeover after the court documents were published.

Masters was questioned about the documents by Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee member Clive Efford, but he refused to comment on whether an investigation had been launched, saying, "even to the point of saying, 'is the Premier League investigating it?', we can't really comment on it."

Under Saudi ownership and with Eddie Howe as manager, Newcastle have risen to fifth in the Premier League, two points off a Champions League place, and have two games in hand on fourth-placed Tottenham.