Supporters of the team where Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp cut his managerial teeth have demanded that their club abandon plans to play Newcastle United this pre-season.
German Bundesliga side Mainz have issued a strong statement calling on their club to scrap plans to face the Magpies in Austria on Monday, July 18, due to the ownership of the Premier League side by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
In a lengthy statement Mainz fans stated their belief that the fixture should not take place with the PIF-owned Magpies, claiming that the owners of Newcastle are using 'sports washing' and their stewardship of the club to launder the reputation of Saudi Arabia in the face of accusations of continued human rights abuses including the oppression of the LGBTQ community and women's rights.
