Newcastle United takeover: Who actually owns Premier League clubs?

A Saudi Arabian-backed takeover of Premier League football club Newcastle United has been completed.

Owning a Premier League club is big business, and potential buyers have to be very wealthy to do so. The £305 million deal is expected to make Newcastle one of the wealthiest clubs in the Premier League.

It's got lots of Newcastle fans excited as the club haven't won a major trophy since the FA Cup in 1955.

But others don't think the deal should have gone ahead.

If you can't see the vote, click here!

What's the background?

The proposal to buy Newcastle has been rumbling on for nearly two years but there have been many arguments over whether a deal should be allowed.

The issues were over a piracy case about streaming matches in the Middle East, rules over a country - Saudi Arabia - being able to buy a football club, and accusations of human rights abuse against Saudi Arabia.

However, the piracy case was resolved last week and the Premier League say that because the club is being bought by a company set up by the state, but not run by the state, they were able to okay the plans.

On social media legendary Newcastle United striker and Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer has welcomed the takeover news saying "We can dare to hope again."

It says it has received "legally binding assurances" that the Saudi state would not control the club.

It also says that it sees the group that bought most of the club - called the Public Investment Fund (PIF) - as legally separate to the state and that it invests in other sports such as F1.

Human rights concerns

However, several charities have been been critical of the takeover because of the way they say Saudi Arabia treats its people.

Saudi Arabia is a very rich country as it produces a lot of oil but human rights groups say the country has a poor record on human rights: from rights for women and LGBTQ+ people, to having the death penalty and their involvement in the war in Yemen.

Amnesty International UK said the takeover is "an extremely bitter blow for human rights defenders" and have accused the country of sportswashing - which means using the showbiz of big sporting competitions to wash away or cover up more controversial issues and to stop people being negative about the country.

"We can understand that this will be seen as a great day by many Newcastle United fans," said Sacha Deshmukh from Amnesty, "but it's also a very worrying day for anyone who cares about the ownership of English football clubs and whether these great clubs are being used to sportswash human rights abuse."

Another company involved in the deal - PCP Capital - were asked about this and they told the BBC that they took concerns over Saudi Arabia's human rights record "very seriously" but said that their partner "is not the Saudi state, it's PIF".

When asked if this was a case of sportswashing by Saudi Arabia, a spokesperson for PCP said: "No, not at all, this is very much about the PIF's investment into a fantastic football team and we look forward to growing the club."