The fiancee of murdered dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday wrote to the English Premier League warning that a Saudi Arabia-backed takeover of Newcastle United would “tarnish” the reputation of the competition.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and US resident, was killed in 2018 while at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to obtain paperwork ahead of his wedding to Hatice Cengiz.
Turkish officials have said that a 15-man squad from Saudi Arabia strangled him and cut his body into pieces.
His remains were never found.
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, led by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, is to reportedly take an 80 percent stake in Newcastle should a proposed ￡300 million (US$373 million) takeover be approved by the league.
However, lawyers for Cengiz said in a letter on her behalf that the league should block the takeover.
“It is undoubtedly the right, proper and lawful action for you [chief executive Richard Masters] and the Premier League to take, especially in light of the ruthless killing of Ms Cengiz’s fiance,” the letter said. “There should be no place in the Premier League, and English football, for anyone involved in such abhorrent acts.”
“The standing of both the Premiership and English football in general would be tarnished by your connection with those who commit the most appalling crimes and then seek to whitewash them, and who seek to use English football as a way of improving their image and hiding their transgressions,” it said.
A Saudi Arabian court in December last year sentenced five people to death over the killing, handing three others long jail sentences and acquitting the remaining three charged in the case.
However, rights group Amnesty International condemned the outcome as a “whitewash.”
The two top figures investigated over the killing — both part of the crown prince’s inner circle — were exonerated.
Both the CIA and a UN special envoy have directly linked the crown prince to the killing, a charge that the kingdom denies.
Critics have accused the takeover bid as the latest example of “sports washing” by Saudi Arabia.
The country over the past few months has hosted a world title heavyweight boxing clash between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz, as well as the Supercopa de Espana.
The Premier League must determine whether the bid fulfils its owners and directors’ test.
British Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden last week told a meeting of the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee that it was a “matter for the Premier League,” rather than government.
The fund has not publicly commented on the deal.
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