Newcastle Ready To Drag Premier League To Green Table For Rejecting Saudi Acquisition Proposal

JAKARTA - Newcastle United is suing the Premier League by accusing the organizer of the elite English football league of having acted inappropriately when rejecting an offer to acquire Saudi Arabia based on the results of due diligence of the owner and director.

The club, whose version of opinion appears to contradict the league version, made a statement saying they would "consider all relevant options available".

A £ 300 million acquisition proposal for the club owned by British businessman Mike Ashley collapsed last July.

The decision comes after lengthy scrutiny by the Premier League which is facing pressure to block the acquisition deal over concerns over alleged broadcast piracy in the Gulf state.

The consortium proposing the acquisition consists of Saudi Arabian state fund management agency PIF, PCP Capital Partners and Reuben Brothers.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said last August that the acquisition offer fell through after the consortium rejected an independent arbitration offer and stepped down voluntarily.

He also said it was irrelevant that the Premier League was asked to assess the appropriateness of consortium members because the group had ended its bid before the matter was resolved.

Newcastle said the Premier League had rejected the acquisition offer.

"This conclusion has been reached despite the club providing extraordinary evidence and legal opinion to the Premier League that the PIF is independent and autonomous from the government of Saudi Arabia," the Newscastle said as quoted by Antara, Thursday, September 10.

"This club and its owners will not accept that the Masters and Premier League have acted properly on this matter and will consider all relevant options available to them."

Newcastle said Ashley was "fully committed" to the acquisition and felt it was in the club's best interests.

The new Premier League season kicks off this Saturday.