Yasir Al-Rumayyan's message as Newcastle United look to improve PSR landscape
Newcastle United sent representatives to a showcase partnership event hosted by PIF in Saudi Arabia.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan urged delegates to 'take advantage' of partnership opportunities at an event attended by Newcastle United officials last week.
Newcastle’s majority owners the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia held the third edition of its Private Sector Forum last Wednesday and Thursday at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Centre.
The aim? “to showcase PIF and its portfolio companies’ business opportunities, signal potential opportunities for investors/suppliers, and maximise the windows of cooperation”, according to PIF’s official website.
Newcastle United in attendance
Newcastle had their own stall at the event with Jonathan Kane, the club’s director of partnerships, among those pictured (see below).
Al-Rumayyan, governor of PIF and Newcastle’s chairman, told those in attendance: "The private sector is a pivotal partner in this successful journey and is part of the national economic transformation.
"I encourage you to continue developing capabilities and enhancing competitiveness to keep pace with the economic growth in Saudi Arabia and the future projects, and I invite you to take advantage of the partnership opportunities available with the PIF and portfolio companies."
Premier League APT rules deemed ‘void and unenforceable’
Al-Rumayyan was speaking just a couple of days before a tribunal ruled that the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction Rules (APT) from the period between 2021 and 2024 are "void and unenforceable”.
The rules were introduced following PIF’s takeover of Newcastle in October 2021 to stop them and other clubs profiting from commercial deals with companies linked to their owners that are deemed above "fair market value".
Premier League clubs voted to amend APT rules in November, despite opposition from Manchester City, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa. Those changes are still in place but are the subject of a legal challenge.
The conclusion of the tribunal read: "In the first partial final award it was declared that the APT rules and amended APT rules were unlawful in three respects.
"There now arises for decision the question whether those three respects can be severed from the remaining APT rules so that those remaining APT rules are valid and enforceable.
"The three respects in which the APT rules and amended APT rules were unlawful cannot be severed with the result that the APT rules as a whole are void and unenforceable.".