Late on Friday evening you could see the website of the English newspaper The Guardian read that 19 clubs from the highest English football league, the Premier League, want to call an emergency meeting. Reason: They don’t like the new owner of the 20th club, Newcastle United. Newcastle United was bought by Saudi Arabia, so to speak, the day before.
It’s one of those reports that you can’t raise your eyebrows as far as it should be. Because: how should you imagine that? Will the owner of Manchester City from Abu Dhabi, an emirate accused of human rights abuses, protest on moral grounds against a takeover by an absolute monarchy accused of human rights abuses? Is Roman Abramovich, billionaire owner of Chelsea FC, afraid that the billion dollar fund could spoil prices? Such an emergency meeting would be a firework of contradictions.
But for all that is known, it’s too late anyway. Newcastle United has been sold to a consortium in which the Saudi fund PIF holds 80 percent, which in turn is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Premier League says it has assurances that the state of Saudi Arabia will not have the last word in this construction either. You want to raise your eyebrows again.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s money is now flowing to the north-east of England, to Newcastle.
(Photo: Saudi Press Agency / dpa)
Add to that the pictures in front of St. James Park in Newcastle, the stadium of the “Magpies” (nickname of the club), on which you could see how the “Toon Army” (nickname of the fans) cheered the takeover frenetically. The previous owner, Mike Ashley, was extremely unpopular – but does that mean that you have to celebrate when the club is now owned by Saudi Arabia?
You can now make it easy for yourself and say: No, you shouldn’t, and you wouldn’t be so wrong with this position on the moral map. But maybe it is worthwhile to put yourself in the shoes of the fans for a moment. Why, some ask, is the aircraft manufacturer Boeing or the transport service provider Uber or countless other companies allowed to get Saudi money and a football club not? Why is it better for Manchester City to buy Pep Guardiola with funds from Abu Dhabi and win one championship after the other? Why can’t we do this with oil money that was extracted a few kilometers further inland? And what about Southampton or West Bromwich bought by Chinese businessmen?
The answer to these questions lies on the one hand in the observation that football has never been a normal business (even if it is increasingly seen that way) because Newcastle United does not build airplanes, but in the broadest sense creates entertainment and – yes – also community ” “. And in general, the overriding consideration is what price you are willing to pay for success and the English Premier League decided a long time ago that it didn’t care about the price. Anyone offering football for sale shouldn’t be surprised if the customer doesn’t suit them. Whoever calls ghosts must not complain about the ghost. Or something like that.
In Germany, on the other hand, it was decided a long time ago that you care about the price of success. The provision, which still bears the wonderfully mathematically cumbersome name “50 + 1 rule”, prevents Saudi Arabia from entering. It has to be said so clearly. Or you have to say: it prevents him for the time being. Because it gets lonely about the rule that says that clubs and, ultimately, their members can decide what happens to their football club.
The reform of financial fair play harbors great dangers
The rule only exists in Germany. In order to maintain it, it was particularly important for top German clubs such as Bayern and Dortmund that another rule existed at European level – namely Financial Fair Play (FFP). While 50 + 1 limited the power of investors in Germany, the FFP limited their power at the European level. Sure, the rule was and is full of holes, can and could be circumvented – but at least it prevented unlimited money from being spent.
The rule is now about to be reformed – during the pandemic it is already suspended, which you could also see on the shopping tours of City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain in the summer. The question now is: Will the new edition have an absolute investment limit, as is the case with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who is well versed in international football money issues and who turns to FC Bayern, again in the world demands? Or is there a relative limit? Then hardly any walls would be set in place for financial flows. In Germany it would be difficult to keep 50 + 1 and at the same time still play a role in European football.
But if the alternative is that Saudi Arabia can buy Schalke 04 or Hamburger SV in exchange for success – then you should do everything in all possible institutions to ensure that it does not come to that.