In The Era of Gangster Capitalism, English Football Has Sold Its Soul
The national game has more than played its part in the widening of the schism between the haves and have nots.
The purchase of Newcastle United, a team located in the North-East of England took place last week Friday.
The acquisition of one of the best loved and followed teams in English football by the Saudi royal family is the culmination of several years of frustration between the club supporters and its previous owner —Mike Ashley.
That their beloved team is now in the hands of the Mohammed Bin Salman, the crown prince of one of the most repressive regimes in the world and an all round gangster, who ordered the execution of a journalist in a foreign country —Jamal Khashoggi — is completely immaterial and irrelevant to them.
All that matters to them is having new owners with so much money to splash on the very best players and coaches in the world.
But at what cost?
Newcastle United aren’t the only team competing in the highly lucrative English premier league under dubious and questionable foreign ownership; The likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Leeds United and Leicester City are all in the hands of non-British proprietors. English club owners, these days…