The takeover of Newcastle United is facing more scrutiny after a contentious US lawsuit involving the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf. The case is centred around the PGA attempting to ban any defecting golf players from their events, with LIV challenging the ruling.
In an unexpected twist Newcastle's acquisition by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been thrust back under the spotlight during the court proceedings. 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 are challenging that order, arguing both the wealth fund and its governor Al-Rumayyan "are not ordinary third parties subject to basic discovery relevance standards".
