The Saudi-backed consortium has withdrawn their bid to buy Newcastle United today.
After 18 weeks of dilly-dallying, the Premier League failed to reach a conclusion whether they should allow them the green signal to get the deal done.
Amanda Staveley was heartbroken as she released a joint statement about their stance.
She has stated that the takeover has faced obstruction from rival clubs, but most importantly they got frustrated with the delay from the Premier League.
The businesswoman has claimed that the consortium has done everything to get the deal done. They have answered every question asked by the Premier League, and yet they couldn’t get the decision in their favour.
While it is thought that the issue of piracy is the major reason why the takeover didn’t happen, Staveley has refuted such arguments.
However, she has insisted that there could be a way forward in the takeover bid from here on.
Staveley told The Times: “The piracy issue was not an issue but we tried to resolve it anyway.
“They [the Premier League] tried to make the state of Saudi a director.
“The PIF had agreed to become a director.”
She said the consortium had had no option but to put a joint statement out.
“Do we give up now? I don’t know, there may be a way forward, but we have had to put a statement out,” added Staveley. “I’m trying to deal with the facts and we had to make a decision today.”
According to reports from The Times, sources close to the Saudis feel that the Premier League’s failure to offer any kind of timeline on a decision was a major factor in their decision to withdraw.
They claimed that the consortium was given private assurances by the Premier League that the process would not take too long.
The potential buyers were suggested that there was nothing in the Premier League rules that would prove insurmountable in completing the purchase of the club.
In fact, at no point in the past four months were they made aware of an issue that would prevent them from gaining the ownership of the Premier League club.
At the same time, they concede the fact that the pressure applied by beIN Sports, as the Premier League’s biggest international broadcast partner, led to further questions.
The decision will come as a huge blow to many Newcastle fans, and no one has any idea about what will happen next.
