Can you still be happy if your favorite club belongs to a sovereign wealth fund from Saudi Arabia? Alan Cassidy talks about his dilemma and his trip to Newcastle in the podcast.
“NZZ Akzent”: Newcastle, the Saudis and me
Author David Vogel, Sebastian Panholzer
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In this podcast episode:
If only it were always like that. Alan Cassidy, editor at “NZZ am Sonntag”, is sitting in an Irish pub in Basel and is celebrating after his football club Newcastle United has reached the Champions League again after more than twenty years. It’s the culmination of a great season and could be the beginning of a beautiful story.
But it has gotten complicated. Newcastle United recently became 80 percent owned by a Saudi sovereign wealth fund. The Saudis have pumped hundreds of millions of pounds into the club. Experts speak of sports washing. With the acquisition of a football club steeped in tradition, Saudi Arabia wants to ensure that we in the West see the country as completely normal – and not as one that executes dozens of people every year.
In the new episode of “NZZ Akzent” Alan Cassidy talks about his dilemma: “Is my club becoming a tool of a regime that wants to wash its bloody image clean? And why isn’t there resistance among the fans?” Cassidy, whose family is from Newcastle, is plagued by these questions and decides to travel there.