On Tuesday 18 February, a delegation from ALQST, a human rights monitoring organisation that promotes human rights in Saudi Arabia, while documenting human rights abuses, is visiting Newcastle.
The main purpose of the visit is to meet with Karen Kilgour, leader of Newcastle City Council, to discuss the situation regarding the ownership pf Newcastle United by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Karen is the third leader of Newcastle City Council to hold that position since the takeover of Newcastle United on 7 October 2021, but the first to meet with any human rights defenders from Saudi Arabia. They are also holding a public briefing at Northumbria University, after the meeting with the council leader.
This will be a high-level delegation of Saudi human rights advocates and includes Saudi citizens whose family members have been jailed by the Saudi regime.
Foz al-Otaibi is a Saudi women’s rights activist and social influencer. She has been designated one of the BBC’s 100 most influential women for her fight to free her sister Manahel serving 11 years in a Saudi prison where she has been tortured and abused and has been held incommunicado for over a month.
Another of the delegates, Lina al-Hathloul is Head of Advocacy and Monitoring at ALQST For Human rights. She is a renowned Saudi activist and has visited Newcastle previously to appeal to politicians and fans to speak up for human rights in her country. Her sister Loujain was imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for her women’s rights work.
Yahya Assiri is a Saudi activist and founder of ALQST and also founded NAAS, the first Saudi political party in exile.
Over three years on from the takeover of Newcastle United Football Club by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), questions about the risks and implications of this ownership have only grown, including around the effects of sportswashing, the integrity of the “beautiful game”, and the economy and politics of Newcastle itself.
Saudi Arabia’s authoritarian ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is using his country’s PIF to rapidly drive global spending and build influence as never before through the soft power of sports and entertainment. Meanwhile the human rights situation on the ground remains dire, including with a record number of executions and the relentless suppression of free speech.
NUFCFAS
NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing (NUFCFAS) have worked with ALQST to get Newcastle City Council to meet Saudi human rights advocates face to face. The Saudi delegation’s visit presents an opportunity to show that Newcastle really does care about human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia.
When the takeover took place, local political leaders said that they were concerned about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia. Now NUFCFAS are looking for concrete actions from political leaders in Newcastle and the Northeast: “Actions speak louder than words. As Newcastle fans who are concerned about human rights, we hope Newcastle City Council and the Saudi delegation can agree a series of measures which will show clearly that Newcastle has not been sportswashed.”
NUFCFAS believe that most Newcastle fans support human rights, but something is missing. They have also noted that official fan groups, like local political figures. promised to ‘keep talking about human rights’, when the takeover happened, but have failed to do so.
NUFCFAS say that: “We have asked numerous times for shows of support on match days for Saudi women like Salma al-Shehab and Manahel al-Otaibi. Women jailed for decades simply for Tweeting in support of their rights. Saudi LGBT+ activist Wajeeh Lion made a direct appeal to Newcastle fans for solidarity but was unfortunately mostly ignored”.
No-one at NUFCFAS is blaming the fans or those who work for the club for what is happening in Saudi Arabia, but state that, “it’s a fact that the club’s Chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan is a minister in the Saudi government and the PIF has been directly implicated in human rights abuses. The delegation wants to pass on in person to Newcastle fans what they can do to support human rights in Saudi Arabia.”
Indeed Human Rights Watch produced a powerful, major report on the Saudi PIF last November: https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/11/20/man-who-bought-world/rights-abuses-linked-saudi-arabias-public-investment-fund
This Saudi human rights delegation to Newcastle and meeting with the Council leader and council members is clearly a great opportunity to clarify the issues surrounding the fact that Newcastle United Football Club is owned by a regime, with a very poor human rights record, which tries to use Newcastle United to sportswash its image. Certainly, the voices of the victims of the regime have a right to be heard on Tyneside and we should all be glad that they are being heard. The delegation wants to discuss how human rights can, and must, still be championed and NUFCFAS believe that Newcastle fans can make a real difference by showing solidarity with the many victims of the regime which owns Newcastle United.
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