NEWCASTLE UNITED’S arbitration hearing against the Premier League will take place in the first week of January – but lawyers for the Magpies have admitted there is no guarantee that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will stick to its original plan to buy the club even if it receives the green light to complete a takeover.

A consortium led by the Saudi PIF and fronted by Amanda Staveley withdrew its bid to buy Newcastle in June 2020 after it failed to satisfy the requirements of the Premier League’s owners and directors’ test.

Today, the Mike Ashley-owned St James’ Holdings Ltd took on the Premier League at a Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) hearing, arguing the governing body had breached anti-competition regulations when it effectively scuppered the Saudi bid.

Mr Adam Lewis QC, representing the Premier League, argued that the anti-competition claim should either be delayed or thrown out because it overlaps with a separate arbitration process. As part of his submissions, Mr Lewis revealed that the arbitration hearing, which will rule on the contentious issue of whether the Saudi PIF is distinct from the Saudi Arabian regime, will start on January 3 and “run for a little over a week”.

Mr Lewis suggested that arbitration might result in the Saudi-led consortium being given the go-ahead to complete a takeover, hence there is currently no loss or damages to St James’ Holdings which can be pursued at a CAT hearing, however Daniel Jowell QC, who was representing Ashley’s company, stated there is no guarantee that the original offer remains on the table.

Mr Jowell said: “Of course, we hope that if tomorrow the Premier League came to its senses and reversed the decision, we hope and probably prepare to go forward possibly on similar terms.

“But there is no basis for assuming that PIF will be prepared to wait several more months until 2022 and the outcome of the arbitration and will then go ahead on precisely the same terms.”

Mr Jowell claimed there had been “credible other offers for the club” in the last few years, but suggested they had been for a lower sum than the Saudi-led group were willing to pay, hence the claim for monetary damages against the Premier League which “one would expect to run into several millions”.

In an explosive section of today’s hearing, Mr Jowell claimed the Premier League had been “improperly influenced” by both Qatar-based broadcaster BeIN Sports and a number of ‘major’ Premier League clubs when it failed to ratify last year’s proposed takeover.

He said: “At the same time that the Premier League was reaching its decision (on the takeover), beIN was in the midst of negotiations for a new three-year broadcast rights deal.

“(These were) going on behind closed doors and without competitive tender process. The (broadcast) deal was announced in December, after the takeover was effectively blocked by the Premier League decision.

“A number of major clubs that control or strongly influence the Premier League also joined in the lobbying against the deal. Richard Masters (Premier League chief executive) held more than one direct meeting with beIN at this time.

“We say this lobbying distorted the Premier League’s fair and objective application of the rules. The result of all of this is that PIF pulled out of the takeover.”

The extent of the breakdown in the relationship between Newcastle and the Premier League was evident in Mr Jowell’s revelation that the governing body had even threatened to expel the Magpies from the English top-flight as their arguments intensified.

He said: “Notwithstanding its threats, the Premier League hasn’t carried through its threat to stop the club from participating in the competition.”