Source: REUTERS/Paul Childs
[Saba Sports News] According to British media reports, MI6 (the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service) was involved in the Saudi consortium’s acquisition of Newcastle United. The report pointed out that MI6’s involvement in government negotiations regarding the Saudi consortium’s acquisition of Newcastle highlights why government officials should abolish a controversial clause requiring a new independent football regulatory body to consider “foreign and trade policy.” It was reported that they requested copies of communications related to the Newcastle acquisition from the Foreign Office under freedom of information laws, revealing that at least one email regarding the case was copied to the private secretary of “C,” which is the code for the head of MI6. Fair Game, an organization advocating for fairer football governance, described this email as a “warning” regarding the foreign policy clause in regulatory legislation. This email was sent in June 2020 when “C” was still Alex Younger, and it was also copied to Richard Moore, then Director of Political Affairs at the Foreign Office, who later succeeded Younger as head of MI6. This situation reflects concerns from Boris Johnson’s government about the Premier League blocking the Saudi PIF’s acquisition of Newcastle.