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The fiancée of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi said she was “shocked” and “very sad” after the Premier League allowed a Saudi-led consortium to take over at Newcastle United.
Khashoggi, an exiled Saudi journalist who frequently criticized Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in October 2018.
An intelligence report, to which the CIA mostly contributed, concluded that bin Salman likely approved the killing or arrest of the journalist inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Image: Hatice Cengiz was to marry Jamal Khashoggi before his murder. Pic: Maverick / Briarcliff Entertainment
Saudi Arabia denied this and offered a number of different explanations before finally settling on saying he was killed in a rogue operation by a delivery squad. The Saudi public prosecutor said five people were sentenced to death after a secret trial.
Before agreeing to take over Newcastle United, Amnesty International highlighted Khashoggi’s death and human rights abuses as reasons why the Premier League would not allow a Saudi-led federation to buy the club.
“It is very sad, it is a real shame for Newcastle and English football,” Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish national who was engaged to marry Khashoggi, told Sky News.
Photo: Jamal Khashoggi was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018
The Premier League said it allowed the £300m deal to be approved after it received “legally binding assurances that Saudi Arabia will not take control” of the club.
Amanda Staveley, who now sits on the Newcastle United board as CEO of PCP Capital Partners, said Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which now holds an 80% stake in the club, is a sovereign wealth fund independent of a Gulf state.
She told Sky Sports News: “The Premier League has issued a statement. The issue with this deal was about control, the control issue was resolved and we closed, we moved on.”
“The main partner in the consortium is the Public Investment Fund, which is an independent, commercially oriented investment fund. They are a fantastic partner for Newcastle. I am very honored to work with them, they have been very patient and wonderful partners for PCP.”
However, Ms. Cengiz said: “It doesn’t make sense because everyone knows the government [in Saudi Arabia] He controls everything.
“The current Saudi regime has a crown prince running everything in the country. The important thing is this… How do the players, the fans and the Newcastle manager accept this situation?
“I’m really sad about this point. I think money is more important than anything in this life.”
She added, “I want to remind them that there are some more values [important] from money. It is very heartbreaking for me to remind the West of these values.”
“Best day of my life” – Newcastle fan
Amnesty International has told the Premier League that Saudi Arabia is trying to “wash its appalling human rights record with football’s most fighting magic”.
However, such issues have been off the minds of many Newcastle supporters who had hoped to seize power for years.
After the deal was confirmed, historic Newcastle scorer Alan Shearer joined thousands of fans in celebration as he claimed ‘we can dare hope again’.
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