Tycoon behind Newcastle Utd takeover gave £84k to Tories after Boris backed bid

14 October 2023 , 16:57

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Amanda Staveley with her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi (Image: Newcastle United via Getty Image)

The financier behind the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United has given £84,500 to the Tories.

One of Amanda Staveley’s firms paid £50,000 in February following two earlier gifts totalling £34,500. The latest donation came after it was reported that Boris Johnson backed the Saudi bid for Newcastle when he was PM.

A newspaper claimed his government campaigned for months to get the Premier League to approve it. Saudi Arabia’s ruler is said to have told him that failure would “have a negative impact on both our countries’ economic relations”.

Premier League objections killed the deal in 2020 but it went through in October 2021 – masterminded by Yorkshire-born multi-millionaire Ms Staveley. Following the takeover, the club paid her firm Cantervale nearly £1million in consultancy fees

The Tory party has received £84k from firms owned by Amanda Staveley (AFP via Getty Images)

She is on the club’s board of directors and is a co-owner through her company PCP Capital Partners. In 2019 Ms Staveley paid the Tories £22,000 and Cantervale gave £12,500.

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The £305million Newcastle takeover was highly controversial –mainly because of the Middle Eastern state’s human rights abuses. These have included the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. “Rogue” agents were blamed but the US said Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman authorised it.

Bin Salman chairs Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is Newcastle’s majority shareholder.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (AFP via Getty Images)

Labour’s Lord Foulkes said: “I strongly believe government should have a greater role in football, but in a regulatory capacity, not lobbying on the behalf of wealthy prospective owners. “Dirty money has deep tentacles in our game, and it is hard not to interpret these ‘donations’, combined with Johnson’s behaviour, as a blatant quid pro quo orchestrated by the Saudis. While we have come to expect nothing less from the crony capitalists in the Conservative party, this should underline the pressing need for a strong regulator.”

It's been reported Boris Johnson backed the Saudi bid for Newcastle (Getty Images)

Last week Sir Rod Stewart said he had refused to perform in Saudi Arabia because of human rights abuses. The Conservative Party said: “Donations to the party are properly declared to the Electoral Commission, openly published by them, and comply fully with the law.”

Newcastle United, PCP Capital Partners and the Government have been contacted for comment.

Simon Murphy