A Newcastle supporter has created a petition in a bid for an independent investigation into the takeover process of the Premier League, after news emerged of the clubs' takeover deal collapsing yesterday.
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Patience ran thin with buyers
The Saudi Arabian-backed consortium announced that they were withdrawing themselves from the buying process after they were given no sign of a timescale on a decision of their Owners and Directors' Test - even though those proceedings had been ongoing for the last four months.
The takeover saga lasted 17-weeks and did not seem anywhere close to a conclusion prior to the buyers' decision to pull out.
This deal in particular was forefronted by financier Amanda Staveley's PCP Capital Partners, the Reuben Brothers, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, who were set to be 80% shareholders in the club.
The Toon are no stranger to Staveley, as she has tried to buy the club once before in 2017 - before returning to the scene this year with the backing of the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The PIF, who are chaired by Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, are worth an estimated £320bn.
Since the four-month deliberation, the entire football club has been stuck in limbo as they awaited a verdict from league officials.
The deal had been heavily scrutinised by calls for rejection, mainly by various human rights organisations and sports television broadcasters beIN Sports - due to piracy allegations regarding the Saudi regime.
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Staveley believes Premier League are to blame for the collapse
Staveley spoke to The Times shortly after the news emerged, she revealed that rival clubs were against the deal - and put the full blame on the Premier League for the eventual collapse of the deal.
"Of course we do [on whether the consortium believes that the Premier League were at fault for the deal not happening].
"They had a chance, they say we have not answered all the questions and we have done so.
"But the other clubs in the Premier League didn't want it to happen."
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Newcastle fans distraught with outcome
The news of the deal collapsing has enraged the Newcastle fanbase, who were so desperate to have disposed of Mike Ashley's 13-year reign.
This petition comes as no surprise, as members of the fanbase believe that Newcastle have had a once in a lifetime opportunity snatched away from them.
The prospective buyers pledged to invest £250m on players as well as heavily investing in the city - something which is desperately needed in the North East of England, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The description of the petition reads: "After recent events leading to the unsuccessful takeover attempt of Newcastle United, this petition aims to engage the United Kingdom (UK) government in establishing an independent investigation into the English Premier League (EPL) takeover process and Richard Masters who was fundamental in orchestrating the deal.
"The takeover negotiations came to a halt on 30th July 2020 after the Saudi backed consortium withdrew their interest with one of the key reasons being the "Prolonged Process".
"This announcement was released after 4 months without a decision.
"Despite the takeover being a confidential process, much of it was played out in the public domain and by the end of the Newcastle United takeover saga, it was apparent that the dispute was only with the Saudi backing due to their apparent human rights and piracy abuses.
"However, many of the concerns were initially raised by outside influences who would directly benefit from this particular takeover attempt failing or who already have personal issues with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
"Those groups proceeded to mount a personal attack on Saudi backing by raising piracy and human rights concerns before using the partner of reporter Jamal Khashoggi who has no connection to English football in their efforts.
"Mohammed Bin Salman who is the crown prince of Saudi Arabia is an ally of the UK government and Royal Family has been integral in supporting the UK with the outbreak of Covid-19 along with reforming the KSA policies on human rights.
"As a result of the EPL's negligence and Qatar influences around the Newcastle takeover, the city of Newcastle has been deprived of some well-needed investment into the local football club as well as the city as a whole."