Allan Saint-Maximin is set to join Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia from Newcastle United. Both clubs are majority owned by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund – the change raises questions.
“I don’t want to lose him,” said Newcastle coach Eddie Howe in his team’s pre-season preparations when asked about Saint-Maximin: “But we have to act through financial fair play, otherwise we won’t be able to act this summer. The financial rules force us to a certain extent.”
The fact that Newcastle United now have the right buyer at the right time in Al-Ahli at the right price is viewed with some suspicion in the Premier League. As the portal “The Athletic” reports, several clubs want to report concerns about the change to the Premier League because both clubs have the same majority owner with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) from Saudi Arabia.
Newcastle are filthy rich and still have limited scope
Newcastle United have been filthy rich ever since they were taken over by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund. However, the club playing in the Champions League next season is limited by the rules of the Premier League and UEFA:
Premier League allows £105m deficit over three years, UEFA £60m over three years. Only these amounts may be settled by investors. However, only income from the football business may be used in the calculation – for example, transfer fees generated from player transfers.
The PIF sovereign wealth fund could use the transfer to bring regular money to the accounts of Newcastle United in a roundabout way. An opportunity that most other clubs don’t have.
Premier League demands “fair market prices” for transfers
In its rules, the Premier League requires players to be paid “fair market prices”. According to the rules of the Premier League, for example, age, contract term, performance, injuries or the competition on the transfer market are taken into account. This is to prevent excessive transactions that only have the purpose of moving as much money as possible to the desired location – for example, to comply with the rules of financial fair play.
Is that the case here? English media reports that Al-Ahli is willing to pay 35 million euros for Saint-Maximin. Various online portals sort him between 20 and 40 million euros – so an investigation into the Premier League may only leave a stale aftertaste and less a rule violation.
Coach Howe said: “We are subject to the same rules as any other club when it comes to transfers. I’m sure we will meet all the conditions for the move to go smoothly and properly.”
Newcastles Trainer Eddie Howe
Football and the problems of multi-club ownership
The participation of club owners in several clubs – so-called multi-club ownership – has become an ever-growing phenomenon in professional football in recent years. It was only at the beginning of July that UEFA approved that several clubs with the same majority owner could start in the European Cup at the same time. This applied to the connection between AC Milan and FC Toulouse, between Aston Villa and Vitoria Guimaraes and between Brighton and Hove Albion and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.
There are several concerns: some clubs could be relegated to farm teams, match-fixing could be suspected and transfers within a network of clubs could be made at prices that meet investors’ needs for tax or financial fair play – which is the allegation at Saint-Maximin.
PIF owns Newcastle and four Saudi Arabian clubs
In October 2021, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF took over 80 percent of Newcastle United. The Premier League said it wanted “legally binding guarantees” that the club would not be controlled by the royal family. In June 2023, Saudi Arabia announced that the PIF would take over 75 percent each of the domestic clubs Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. Since then, stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzeme, N’Golo Kanté and Roberto Firmino have moved to the Saudi Arabian Pro League.
Human rights organizations criticize that Saudi Arabia uses sport as an image campaign. Amnesty International has described Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Saudi Arabia as “part of a comprehensive system of sports washing”. The human rights situation in Saudi Arabia is bad, the country is an absolute monarchy. The authorities suppress freedom of speech, women have limited rights, queer people are discriminated against, homosexual acts are punished.