Johnny Phillips: Money talks as the Saudi's Premier League influence grows stronger
There are 11 Premier League football clubs whose owners have formal stakes in other clubs. Then there are those with less transparent link-ups to other clubs which could be described as affiliations in everything but name.
So, it was little surprise that eight clubs voted down the Premier League’s motion to prevent related-party loans involving its member clubs. As it was only meant as a temporary measure for January’s transfer window, it does not significantly change the outlook for the new year transfer dealings, except for perhaps one club in the north-east who may have felt they were being targeted.
If anything, perhaps more than eight clubs had reasons to keep their own self-interest at the forefront of the voting. “The greed and selfishness is out of control,” said Gary Neville this week. “It’s lawless. The Premier League is a defunct organisation.” They are searingly strong words but the point Neville makes stands up to scrutiny in certain respects. As each season passes the weight of money becomes heavier and more influential, and it appears more difficult for the governing bodies to do anything meaningful about it.
For years, those with the most have found a way to win on and off the pitch but in the last couple of seasons the effects have been turbocharged, and at the heart of it all is one country: Saudi Arabia.
When the Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquired Newcastle United in October 2021 there were questions about the process that enabled it to secure the club which still remain unanswered today. In June, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, run by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, announced a takeover of four of the country’s biggest football clubs – Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ahli and champions Al Ittihad.
