Amnesty International continue to put pressure on the Premier League after the takeover of Newcastle United returned to the headlines last week. In an unexpected twist Newcastle's acquisition by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been thrust back under the spotlight during court proceedings in America.
In a legal dispute between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, a San Francisco court has approved the PGA Tour's request to include PIF chair and Magpies chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan in its lawsuit and ordered them to produce documents in the case. However, PIF have challenged that order, arguing both the wealth fund and its governor Al-Rumayyan "are not ordinary third parties subject to basic discovery relevance standards".
Amnesty last week released a statement calling on the Premier League to 're-examine' the Newcastle takeover and the process which saw it given the green light. The Premier League refused to comment on the matter following the US lawsuit revelation but chief executive Richard Masters has previously suggested the takeover could be revoked should the 'legally-binding' assurances provided by PIF prove to be false.
