Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of Newcastle United, celebrates with trophy after winning the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium on March 16, 2025
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of Newcastle United, celebrates with trophy after winning the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium on March 16, 2025
Campaigners say Newcastle United’s historic Carabao Cup final win on Sunday has been “tainted” by the club’s Saudi Arabian ownership.
The first piece of domestic silverware to be put into the St James’ Park trophy cabinet since 1955 also represents the club’s greatest sporting triumph since the controversial takeover in 2021, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The Gulf kingdom has been accused of using Newcastle United and other investments, such as the LIV Golf tour, to ‘sportswash’ its international reputation amid concerns about human rights abuses.
Saudi Arabia reportedly executed more than 300 people in 2024, while a recent delegation of activists who visited Newcastle last month highlighted the case of Manahel al-Otaibi – a fitness instructor and women’s rights campaigner who was handed an 11-year jail sentence and who Amnesty International says has been “forcibly disappeared”. The NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing group, which has urged fans and North East politicians to speak out against the regime, said it was “hard not to see this as a success for sportswashing” after watching Magpies chairman and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan lifting the trophy on the Wembley pitch.
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They said: “Fans of other clubs, while happy for our fans for winning our first domestic trophy in 70 years, are also pointing out that it comes at a price, which is to say nothing about the human rights abuses of the owners. The whole of football is also worried about the future of the game. Will football be transformed into simply a plaything and propaganda tool for dictatorships and oligarchs? Is this the future we want for the once beautiful game?”
Human rights groups met with Newcastle City Council leader Karen Kilgour last month and presented a list of demands which included calls to closely monitor “any use of the city and region as a sportswashing vehicle” and to find ways to highlight individual cases, such as by making victims of human rights violations honorary citizens of Newcastle.
Posting on Bluesky after the 2-1 victory over Liverpool, Byker ward Green Party councillor Nick Hartley wrote: “Whilst celebrating NUFC’s stunning win, it's crucial we examine the club’s ownership and stand for human rights. We need a new model of football ownership, otherwise Newcastle’s success continues to be overshadowed by the Saudi government's attacks on freedom of expression.”
Alistair Ford, a climate researcher at Newcastle University, posted: “It's not easy being a climate change researcher when your team is taken over by oil money, not to mention the human rights issues. I watched and enjoyed the match on Sunday. But it is bittersweet.”
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