search

Newcastle takeover hits ANOTHER snag as Saudi Arabia permanently cancels beIN Sports' license to broadcast in the country amid piracy row

Newcastle takeover hits ANOTHER snag as Saudi Arabia permanently cancels beIN Sports

Daily Mail

The takeover of Newcastle United has been complicated still further after Saudi Arabia permanently cancelled the license of beIN Sports to broadcast in the country.

Qatar-based beIN are the Premier League's rights holders in the Middle East and this means there will be no legal means of watching top-flight football in Saudi.

Sources indicated at the start of the week that an announcement on the £300million Saudi-led takeover was close, and the expectation remained that it would be approved, in part because of government involvement behind the scenes.

However, beIN sources who believed the takeover was about to be signed off are now stunned by Saudi's latest move.

The broadcaster called it 'nonsensical' and claimed Saudi's ruling - which also included a fine of around £2.1m - had been arrived at following 'sham' legal proceedings.

It remains to be seen what it means for the Newcastle takeover, which has now been in the hands of the Premier League since mid April.