Pod Save the World - Football in the House of Saud: World Corrupt Season 2, Episode 1

Episode Date: March 16, 2024

Roger Bennet and Tommy Vietor are back for Season 2 of World Corrupt! And this time, Rog and Tommy are diving into how Saudi Arabia, the biggest exporter of oil in the world and a nation in the news for human rights abuses, became the latest geopolitical power player sweeping global soccer. The Saudis have poured billions of dollars into the world’s most popular sport, including signing superstar players like Cristiano Ronaldo to eye-popping contracts. But the crown jewel in the Saudi investment portfolio? That would be the take over of one of England’s most historic football clubs, Newcastle United. A team with a rich history from an impoverished corner of the country, Newcastle had fallen upon hard times…and they welcomed the Saudis with open arms. But at what cost? Listen to the first episode of this four part series to find out.

This episode of World Corrupt is brought to you by Zbiotics, pre-alcohol probiotic. Your first drink for a better tomorrow. Saudi Arabia have been all but confirmed as host for the 2034 Men's World Cup after its only other rival for the tournament Australia decided against making a bid. Takeover at Newcastle, my PIF, the Saudi Arabia investment. Did you order the murder of Jamal Kashan? At admission, the journalist is in fact dead and the Saudis killed it. Gianna Ronaldo has signed for Saudi-side Al-Massa.

Saudi Arabia has pumped astronomical sums into the game that we love. A country that treats women like second-class citizens, a country that throws its own citizens in jail for social media. You suddenly have an army of defenders and apologists for anything to Saudis would have been accused of over the years, overnight. Roger Bennett? Tommy Fito, is that really you? Roger, are we back?

We are back? like Tracy Chapman. Season two of World Corrupt. I'm so happy we're doing this and then we can be together again and that you were able to get a Tracy Chapman reference into the podcast

within the first 60 seconds of recording. I hope that makes me your cuddly Luke Combs. Oh, I think my work here is done. But Tommy, something's never changed, mostly because I've never left season one, to be honest. I've just been sitting here

in my studio, in the dark, floating in space, a bit like Matthew McConaughey and Interstellar, trapped behind the bookcase, just waiting for you to return. Well, it's a good thing that Saudi Arabia has decided to insert itself

into our lives and the lives of sports fans around the world. They're acquiring teams, leagues even, competitions, and just generally reshaping the international order in sporting landscape as we know it. So fun.

Yeah, the way you said that and just generally reshaping the international order, just doing that, you know? including the 2034 men's World Cup, which we'll get into. But as you said, Thomas, we are back for season two of World Corrupt. And for those of you, you listen to the first season, welcome back. But if you knew, hello, friend, though, we've been expecting you.

And as McConaughey himself once said, love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space. America's greatest poet, Matthew McConaughey. I don't know what it means for this beautiful. No idea what it means. For those of you who did not happen to hear season one, it focused on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in the process through which global football's greatest competition

was awarded to a country smaller than the size of Connecticut with an awful labor and human rights record. And the way the world and we as sports fans reacted to that or didn't react. It's a real feel-good story. Actually, one that ended quite serially after the World Cup final, won by Argentina, with Lionel Messi, as Salt Bay decided to just insert himself into proceedings during the trophy

presentation as you do, almost a perfect living breathing symbol and proof that it's always darkest just before it goes pitch black or something like that. If you don't know what we're talking about, please Google Salt Bay and Lionel Messi. Trust me, it is worth it. But on the bright side, Roch, we ended sports washing for good, so that was nice. Did we? Did we, though, sorry. Did we? I don't know that we did, Rod.

But even better news, you don't have to have listened to season one of world corrupt to make sense of what we were planning to unpack this season. But one thing we should do is remind you who we are as this podcast appears

on both the Men and Blazers and the Potsay of the World feeds. So we are simultaneously guests on each other's pots. As if any Men in Blazers media network listeners do not know who you are, Tommy. Always with that New England modesty.

Don't know what we're going to do with you. But in the off chance, they've missed the memo. Tommy Vitor, he's like a podcast in Tom Brady, complete with high cheekbones. He's one of the founders of crooked media and former President Obama Stafford. And above all, a bloke that I somehow convinced. I felt very proud of this.

I also feel a little bit guilty about this to support the greatest team in the world, Everton Football Club. Some will say convinced, others will say tricks. These days, the cheekbones are around just to hold up the bags under my eyes. from being a new dad. Anyway, I am nothing if not loyal, Raj. Once I nail my colors to the mast, I am ride or die. And for all the Pod Save the World listeners, Roger Bennett is the founder of the Men in Blazers Media Network, the number one independent soccer media company in North

America and in my heart. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling autobiography reborn in the USA about his journey from Liverpool to being an American citizen. It is a truly great book that was extolling the virtues of Tracy Chapman long before it was cool again. A feel-good immigrant's tale. It's been like a mash-up of Yentl and Scarface. But enough about us, Tommy. Let's talk more about exactly what's brought us here today. Why are we here? You're definitely more Yentzel than Scarface. But, Raj, as I mentioned earlier, even before we started our last series on guitar, there was another tangentially related geopolitical story sweeping global sports. The PGA Tour has agreed to merge with Saudi-backed LiveGolf.

Big boxing knees, Nancy Joshua will face former UFC champion Francis Nganoo in Saudi Arabia. Despite backlash from some fans, WWE plans to move forward with its crown jewel event in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as originally planned. Now, Raj, Saudi Arabia has amassed so many global sports assets that A&E is threatening to give them a reality show. I wrote that joke, from ownership of the Live Golf Tour to hosting an F1. race and Jetta, and then there's boxing, MMA, e-sports. Tommy, as the age-old saying goes, first they came for our e-sports.

But even more than that, Saudi Arabia has pumped astronomical sums into the game the world loves. Soccer, football, both at home and abroad, with the goal of ultimately hosting the next available World Cup as their ultimate prize.

That's right, listeners. The World Cup is at the center of this series once again. Because less than a year after Qatar, it was revealed that Saudi Arabia will be hosting World Cup 2034. Presumably that's because they pulled out the stops with a spectacular presentation in a competitive bidding process. Close.

And by close, I mean, they were somehow the only country that ended up being left in a place to even bid to host the tournament. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. How is it possible that only one country wanted to host the World Cup? Did the invitation go to Australia's spam folder or something? Don't you hate it when that happens? Old spammy spam. It's a slightly complicated story that we will go deep on a little later in this podcast,

but at the heart of it all, once again, it's our old pals at FIFA. Ah, the Federation International de Football Association. I feel like that was offensive, that accent. Oh, I love it when you speak to me in your love language, Tommy. who, as I just mentioned, are global football's governing body, a group that season one guest, former Department of Justice official Matt Miller, said was among the most corrupt he had ever seen. And Matt worked in New Jersey politics.

In fact, he worked for Bob Menendez. The U.S. Senator recently busted with a stash of gold bars in his house. But that's a story for another jury. Yes, that very same FIFA in their infinite wisdom, learn absolutely, well, nothing from the moral outcry. that provided the drum beat all the way into World Cup 2022 in Qatar. They actually managed for this one to conjure a process grounded in backwards twisting legalese reasoning

that we'll try to pass in a later episode. Ultimately, it made it a fate of comp play that of all of the 211 nations who are its members, Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia only, would be awarded the World Cup hosting rights. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's start at the beginning. That's right, Raj. What we're going to do in this four-part series is explore why Saudi Arabia is diving into football and what it all pretends for the future of sports in general and for soccer specifically.

We'll get some help from friends and experts along the way and we'll really try to make sense of it all. You ready to do this, buddy? As an iconic American once said, starting from zero, got nothing to lose. Maybe we'll make something. You know what, Tommy? I'm starting to sound worse than even Jonas Blink. Okay, so our mission here is pretty clear, but this is a complex story with so many moving parts. It can be hard to know where to even begin.

I will answer that call, Tommy. I will grab the mic. Like your over-eager friend who's just had a few too many beverages at karaoke night and cannot wait to Belt Out Oasis Wonderwall Liam Gallagher style. I will start where else with the football. And the way to Saudi Arabia's influence in the game now extends from the streets of Riyadh. All the way to Newcastle, a proud industrial town in the northeast corner of England in which beer and football and the right to go shirtless to sporting events

in the middle of winter is an inviolable freedom. Is that the English version of Sons Out Gunza? But before we get to any of that, we've got to talk about the history of soccer in Saudi Arabia because unlike Qatar, which essentially attempted to manufacture football and culture out of nothing, they literally imported fans from Lebanon to act as if they were Qatari fanatics to cheer in temporary stadia built out of shipping containers ahead of the 2022 World Cup, which was all artifice.

Those fake fans watched host Qatar, crap the bed, losing all three games, crashing out bottom of the group in a humiliating opening round exit. And I don't know how you say Sheldon Freud in Arabic. But in Saudi Arabia, Tommy, there really is a true authentic. football culture. And to help us go all 23 of me on their soccer roots, we've enlisted the help of an old friend. I'm Tarik Panger. I'm a sports correspondent with the New York Times based in London.

I cannot tell you how much better it makes me feel to know that Terrick is riding with us again, Raj. He is. He is incredible, Tommy. He's a singular journalist and storyteller who has an incredible grasp on football culture around the world, especially in the often opaque Web of finances that lay underneath around FIFA emanating from the orb. He's got an ability to string it all together. We asked him about the source of the River of Football in Saudi Arabia. This is a place that had this obsession with football, which a lot of places with the connection to Great Britain would have.

Britain was heavily enmeshed in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, among other places, and leaves that legacy of football. and it is seen as this kind of game that you should build clubs around, athletic clubs, so you'll have swimming and a place to hang out on Sunday, and they will have at the top of all of the sports and men's sports team, men's football team. That will be the main event, as it were. Look, I should say, Raj, it's sweet that they have great football culture,

but this is America, baby. We don't care about any of that stuff. We care about two things. One, complaining when the NFL broadcast shows Taylor Swift, and two, winning. Where did the Saudis fall on the scale from Everton to DJ College? Oh, my God. You're asking if they do the winning, as my father calls it, the non-losing. Well, here's the reality.

On the international level, where Saudi Arabia takes on other nations and competitions like your World Cup, the answer is, kind of, they won. And there's still ballads being written about this. the 1989, Boys Under 16 World Cup, which was held in Scotland, and it doesn't sound like much, but it remains the only time a Middle Eastern or Asian country has won a major men's global tournament of any kind. And while at the full international level,

they've not won anything outside of Asia, they've given their fans, and this is what is important about sports. They've given them moments to dream. Again, the sound is great, very sharply. What a terrific run. This is. Wonderful piece of football.

He's still in here. Oh, that's the ball. greatest goal of the tournament. That's World Cup 1994, RFC Stadium in Washington, D.C. Saudi Arabia are facing Belgium, and Saeeda Wiran picks the ball up in his own half and proceeds to treat Belgian defenders like Flemish and Walloon parking cones before smashing one home in one of the all-time great World Cup goals the tournament's ever seen. So, Raj, I was not familiar with this goal or the word Walloon, so I went back.

I googled both. And O'O.Iron is like some kind of Riyadh, Dion Sanders. That was just an incredible goal. Oh, yeah, it is. He is absolutely Saudi Coach Prime. And yes, it is just one goal in one game. But that's the beauty of World Cups, the power of them. Here's Tarrick again.

For a young kid, the World Cups are such a big deal. It was such a big stage, and you see this. And you're not thinking about politics or any of these other big picture ideas. how the world is run. You're thinking about, look at these people, you know, running on this patch of grass, full stadium, and scoring goals. This is what World Cups are all about.

They produce transcendent sporting moments, their cultural moments, they're really political moments, that inspire entire generations. And in this competition, Saudi Arabia's first ever big boy World Cup, they managed to survive and advance out of a very tough opening group that included the Netherlands,

very good at football. Belgium think they're very good at football. Morocco can be incredibly good of football before falling to Sweden in the round of 16. Some performance, and these were really the green shoots of an entire generation in a nation growing up and dreaming henceforth for that moment on of World Cup glory.

So, Raj, again, this is all nice and romantic and beautiful. I don't want to harsh anybody's mellow who's listening. But when did the Saudis come in and dump all? Oil on our heads, like some kind of end-of-game Gatorade bath. That's the part of the story I want to get to. Well, Tommy, grab a towel and some dish soap, because we'll get there right after this break. World Corrupt is brought to you by Zbiotics. Let's face it, Raj.

After a night with a couple drinks, I don't bounce back the next day like I used to. Oh, Tommy, I do love that phrase, night with drinks, which sounds like some kind of lost Charles Bukowski novel. He would have loved a little bit of Z biotics in his life, Raj. Would he know, Tommy? Because with Zibiotics, you never have to choose between a great night out or a great next day. Zbiotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough next mornings after drinking.

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Oh, Tommy, don't take away my toxic byproduct. It's all I've got. But this is actually the perfect product for Premier League fans in America. We know a thing or two about early mornings. Can I suggest drinking one before your first scotch on Friday night? And then when you wake up on Saturdays, you feel amazing. And you just have Everton's ineptitude to ruin your day. Just go to zbiotics.com slash corrupt to get 15% off your first order when you use corrupted. Checkout. I love our little code here.

Zbiotics is backed with 100% money back guarantee. So if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money. No questions asked. Remember, head to zbiotics.com slash corrupt. Use the code Corrupt at checkout for 15% off. Thank you, Zbiotics, for sponsoring this episode and all our good times. Night with drinks. World Corrupt is brought you by Smile Activs.

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Visit smileactivs.com slash corrupt. Go today to receive our special buy one, get one free offer, plus free shipping and handling. That's smileactives.com slash corrupt. Terms and conditions apply. See site for details. Okay, so when we left off, it was in the sun-infrosted tips, Janko Jeans 90s, which unfortunately appear to be back in style here in Los Angeles, I wish I was kidding.

In Saudi Arabia was daring to dream. They were scoring bangers at the World Cup and creating a real authentic football culture. So what happens next? Let's get in the Delorean, hit 88 miles per hour, and fast forward to the late arts if we can. Saudi Arabia had been on the sidelines for, you could say, a decade or more, watching their smaller but equally ambitious local neighbors

pile into football in a way that in different ways was unprecedented. Rod, I don't get it. Unprecedented how? Unprecedented kind of like by going Roman Roy and just buying entire teams,

hips or hearts, it didn't matter. We bought the hearts. Hearts Football Club Club? Why? Why? Because it's the hearts. It's your team. I'm hibs. Your hibs?

You're sure. But I assume they knew which teams they were actually buying. Well, that's debatable, Tommy. But we're going to go chronologically here, starting in 2008, when the United Arab Emirates brought Manchester City, now a footballing superpower without peer. But back then, they would decide to leave the other team in Manchester,

and they took this club who'd been a wonderfully ramshackle, deeply passionate, but always the Roger Clinton to Manchester United's bill. And they transformed them into a dynasty, Serial winner. Should be said, a serial winner with many, many, many financial charges currently sitting against them, which is a long conversation

for a completely different podcast. Sounds like a hell of a deep tease for World Corrupt Season 3. Who is the other neighbor of Saudi Arabia that was getting into football, though? I have a hunch you've heard of than Tommy. Let me give you a clue.

Start to have a cue and ends with an at all. Our good friends in guitar whom we spent the entirety of season one talking about, a podcast, which did we mention is available wherever you get your podcast. Oh, that starts with a P and ends in odd casts.

A reminder, really of a life truth, that the only people more shameless than these nations when acquiring football clubs is Tommy and me when she'll in the podcast we made about them. But back to guitar, who long before they hosted the 2022 World Cup, purchased French club Paris Saint-Germain, a football team since transformed essentially

into a luxury brand. I was going to say, Raj, Paris Saint-Germain sounds like a fragrance you can't afford. Yeah, Paris-San-G does sell out one of those aftershaves that you actually don't apply directly onto your own skin. You just put a little, oh, poof into the air and then walk backwards through it, the mist three or four times to let it coat your skin.

Qatar soon populated PSG with the glitziest and most expensive stars. Footballers as baubles, essentially, that money could buy. They quickly shattered the transfer record to side Brazilian generational talent, Namar. They followed that up by snatching up the goat. A gent who's since moved to Major League Soccer's into Miami

and seized his destiny as the ultimate Florida man, Mr. Leonel Messi. And I see he's bought the George to prove it that he's a Florida man. Beautiful, Lionel, beautiful. But it is strange, Raj, that during this period, the Saudis, who actually love football and have a shit ton of money were just sitting on the sidelines watching their neighbors get a soccer glow up. Yeah, they were until they weren't. You're hearing whispers that, oh look, the Saudis are interested in buying football clubs in Europe, big clubs.

And then there was this rumour about a team in the northeast of England, Newcastle. Newcastle-upon-Tyne. What a place, it's really a place of mind. Have you ever been there, Tommy? No, but I've been to White Castle. Oh, that sounds like the oldest version of I've been to Paradise, but I've never been to me. But come to think about it, the UK government honestly has treated Newcastle, essentially like a White Castle burger, no nutritional value, barely worth the effort it takes to digest.

And the northeast of England is it's an incredible area, proud area, a historic area, but long neglected. It was once the industrial heartland, place of coal and steel and shipbuilding. But in Newcastle after the Second World War, the coal mine shuttered, the shipyards closed, and an entire region, a proud region, the communities inside of it were devastated economically, essentially left to atrophy. Austerity is a hell of a drug. Yeah, but Tommy, assuming our listeners want a more nuanced, non-fast food-related answer to a what is a Newcastle question, we called someone proudly born and bred there. My name is George Culkin, and I'm a senior writer for the athletic. Now, George has been covering football from Newcastle since 19.

It's a very, very working class city, those heavy industries that I've talked about before, coal mining, shipbuilding, those industries that we've lost over recent decades where we're far closer to Scotland than we are to London. There's that sort of little chip on the shoulder about being ignored from London, central government. And certainly, if you're talking about the coal mining aspect, the shipbuilding aspect, sort of industries that were allowed to, wither and die, and nothing was kind of given back to us to fill the breach. So there's always been a sort of sense that we've been ignored by the rest of the country or patronised. There's still a huge amount of deprivation in the North East and, you know, poverty and unemployment. And, yeah, it's been that sense that we've just been left to rot. Now, they may not have jobs or a government that cares, or, you know, hope, or even the sun in Newcastle, but they have pints and

they have pubs and they have Newcastle United Football Club, a team that play in an almost mythical frothing culture of a stadium, St James's Park. It's very easy to kind of lapse into romanticism and stereotype on this. But St James's Park is literally right in the middle of Newcastle upon time. It's on the hill. They call it the cathedral on the hill.

It's there from every approach to the city you see it. You see the stadium first of all. It looms over the city and it looks. booms over the way the city feels. You know, there's always just been that sense that football sets the tone. And when the team is doing well, the city does well and vice versa. So there's been quite a lot of times in my lifetime when it's felt like neither is doing very well. But when there's momentum behind the team, there is a, you know, the word that people use is buzz.

And that's how it is. There is almost a tangible feeling in the city of this. buzz hum. I know that feeling. I love that feeling. You have a team on a hot streak that just electrifies an entire city. Where has that momentum been recently?

Are they buzzing? They buzz killing? Oh, God, when he said that thing, a team on a hot street, honestly, I wanted to the scream with every ounce of my being. I wouldn't know, Tommy. I'm an Everton fan.

Chicago Bears fan of Chicago White Sox fan. All I know is losing. But thankfully, this show is not about me. You're asking about Newcastle United. And honestly, under prior management, which took over in 2007. It was straight down the cliff face. That was their progress.

Here's Tariq. Unfortunately for them, they found an owner who just wanted to make them more miserable. It seemed an English businessman, Mike Ashley, who essentially owned the team to just sort of settle. It was the tyranny of mediocrity, if you like. There was nothing to be hopeful about at Newcastle United under Mike Ashley, a man who made an empire out of selling discount sports goods through his buy them cheap, pile them high sports direct brand. And it was that kind of cheapening and debasement of Newcastle United. So I have to admit, I've been, up as you, Raj, ever since we started working on this episode, I've been picturing Rick Astley. So I just, I had to get it out.

So now you guys are all thinking of them too. You've all been Rick rolled by this goddamn podcast episode. Moving on. So Ashley debased one of the world's proudest football clubs. But he did offer cricket bats at an affordable price. Is that what you're telling me? Tommy, the honest truth is we all assume at this point that you are thinking about Rick Astley. I'd say about 87% of your living, breathing moments.

And we also know this is another truth. Life is all about compromises. And this club, Newcastle, this beacon of life. in the Northeast, working class England, but mired in a relegation battle team, was just being stripped for part, stripped alive,

honestly, under this gent, Mike Ashley, and this is the team that Saudi Arabia brought. So, Raj, one thing I just want to clarify, when you say Saudi Arabia bought this club, who exactly do you mean? Who is signing that check? Oh, Tommy, great question. And no, King Salmon is not walking onto the field

at St. James's Park and presenting him one of those beautiful, comically oversized polystyrene checks, what we're actually referring to is this entity, the Saudi Public Investment Fund. I guess I pictured him rolling in a bunch of barrels of oil, but sure, the Piff. Those guys also cut a $2 billion check to Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, shortly after he left the White House in what was absolutely not a kickback for services rendered while Trump was still in office.

Here's Tarrick on what they actually do do. The public investment fund is one of what I described as sovereign wealth funds. These are investment funds or investment companies that invest money on behalf of entire countries. So the United Arab Emirates has one, Qatar has one. These are usually hydrocarbon economies that want to invest their gains from what they have, the assets, which is usually oil or gas, and then start sprinkling that out in the world and investing them in diverse sectors to turn a profit through these investments. It is spending Saudi Arabia's money in the country or outside, investing in an array of services, products,

things that you use every day, Twitter if you want, or is it X these days? Electronic Arts, the company that controls that video game formerly known as FIFA has Saudi money in it. I mean, everywhere you look. Okay, Rod, let's fire up your old Google machine. So the Saudis invest in Uber, Blackstone. They put money into countless venture capital funds, like the SoftBank Vision Fund, which invested in WeWork, DoorDash, Slack, and about a billion other things. Terring mentioned electronic arts, sports, and the Piff. It also invests in Nintendo, Capcom, Nixon, and Activision Blizzard.

Oh, for all of you gamers out there. Oh, they got Boeing, but that stock's been a real winner these days. Meta, Facebook, Disney, Citibank, Bank of America. Right, they own 10% of Heathrow Airport. Is there anything these guys don't invest in? How much are crooked do they own? Can't disclose that here. By the way, as far as I know, they've yet to invest in this podcast.

But who knows by the end of it? Saudi Arabia, call us our ad rates. They're very affordable. Mr. Crown Prince, you have my email. And so now I guess they can add an English football club to this list of investments. Exactly. And in 2021, the Saudi Piff, that public investment fund, bought 80% of Newcastle United with two private equity firms who helped Greece the deal splitting the rest. And one of those firms is run by someone called Amanda Stavely.

She lives in Dubai. She helped facilitate first that Manchester City purchase from Abu Dhabi back in 2008. But they'd argue the 20% means Newcastle is not in fact solely owned by the Saudi state. is held up off and there's proof of that. An argument is legally sound as the great judicial precedent of he who smelt it dealt it. Objection! The Premier League just let this happen?

Surely they aren't in the business of letting governments just run soccer teams, right? Oh, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, this, this is the important part because the PIF, before the Piff was allowed to take over this team assured the Premier League, which puts all potential owners who what's called a fit and proper test, that it was not in any way, in any way, shape or form the Saudi government. No, no, no.

The Saudi government is that. We're the PIF, something completely different. The fit and proper test, I love that. I'm now imagining the PIF leadership doing pull-ups and sprinting around a track somewhere. Here's Terek. How that works in practice is a mystery today as it was then, because going back to that org chart,

At the top of it is Muhammad bin Salman. So, Muhammad bin Salman, the crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia, he's running the government and the Piff. He's an incredible multitasker. Very same gent. We'll talk a lot more about Muhammad bin Salman or MBS as he is commonly known in the next episode. But for now, you should know that he is the 38-year-old de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. MBS is pushed for considerable social changes in the kingdom. but according to a report in The Economist,

he was called Little Saddam by his friends and family when he was a child. So that should give you a sense of his temperament. Little Saddam Hussein, like Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator. That's the one. Fun guy. But regardless, Raj, it is just nonsense to suggest that the PIF is somehow independent from the Saudi government. All the concerns we might have about Saudi policies or government behavior would also apply to the PIF. So here's Tarrick again.

on what that tells us. It's a sovereign wealth fund. The clue is in the name. Sovereign, it's Saudi Arabia's state wealth fund. The person who runs it is Mohammed bin Salman, and it is Saudi Arabia. So to this day, we have to just take the Premier League's word for the fact that there are these legally binding assurances. I have no idea how this is being tested or how it is being controlled in any way. Okay, so here's where I think we need to point out that the Premier League didn't just let any sovereign nation by a club like they did with Manchester City.

They greenlit an acquisition by a country that throws its own citizens in jail for social media posts, Raj, a country that treats women like second-class citizens, a country where there's not even a pretense of freedom of expression or association. So just for one moment, let's revisit exactly how we got here with Saudi Arabia. Sorry, not Saudi Arabia. The Piff, nothing at all to do with Saudi Arabia. Let's just make that clear, Tommy. But Saudi Arabia investing in Newcastle. It's another world this place. It is a once proud city.

Both of them are discarded. They are, the people that live there, incredible. They are so mad, passionate for their football. And after almost being tortured by this job of an owner, Mike Ashley. Raj, I got some bad news for these fans if they're worried about being tortured by their team owner. But for now, these Newcastle fans, in this moment, when Saudi Arabia descend up, sorry, not Saudi Arabia, the Piff,

descend upon their city, they feel like they've received the footballing golden ticket to the Willy Wonka factory, but classifying it as a little bit of a moral dilemma, that's a bit like classifying me as just a little bit bald. You have a beautiful scalp, my friend. So, Raj, when the Premier League approves this deal, How do Newcastle fans react? Are they upset?

That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Anybody's ever said to you. A beautiful scalper, we'll take that. And in terms of your question, we'll find out right after this break. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Wise, the account that helps you manage your money all around the world. Dining in dollars, doing business and bought. Wherever life takes you, the Wise account lets you send,

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deep into the work that they do. Fadi cold. Okay, so before the break, the Piff, which is definitely not the Saudi government. No, no, no. Two wholly different things. This totally separate entity had bought Newcastle. And we were getting a temperature check on how fans were squaring this moral circle, which is actually the name of a dance Mike Pence did at his wedding.

Oh my God. It is Tarek. So to go back to the day of the takeover, it was chaos, a carnival atmosphere in Newcastle. So on the day the takeover is announced, you see Newcastle fans making a pilgrimage to St. James's Park, to the spiritual home of their club to celebrate the takeover by Saudi Arabia. And in among the famous black and white striped shirts

that Newcastle wear at home, fans dressed in traditional Saudi clothing, including the checkered kaffia that Saudis, and people from the Gulf wearer their heads. It was a remarkable scene. Raj, that sounds like a Halloween party that gets you cancelled after your neighbor post photos of it on Facebook. But catch me up.

How was this worked out for Newcastle in terms of the club success? Look, they spent almost half a billion dollars on new talent to stop the roster with $485 million in transfer fees at last count. But somehow, it's felt sensible because you compare it to the other Gulf State takeover's.

Qatar just immediately ploying. submitted in signing the glitious names they could and unfurling them at Paris-San-Germann. Newcastle, in comparison, they've signed extremely pragmatic, prudent players like local academy product, Dan Byrne, a six-foot-six, galloping giraffe of a defender for a cool nine million. That is entirely too tall. Okay, what about the coach? I'm assuming they brought in some kind of soccer bill Belichick. Sounds like there's a gap in the market for sleeveless hoodies in northeast England.

Again, you'd be surprised because Belichick was available. available. Still is. By the way, if they are listening, they're writing down, hmm, bell to check, interesting. But they initially have taken a more cautious approach here. They hired an emotionally intelligent, almost boyish British manager,

a really lovely guy named Eddie Howe, who steadfastly refuses to comment about his new employers. His approach to always stick to sports, lads. I'm well aware of what's going on around the world, but my focus is on trying to produce a team to win football matches and get enough points to stand the league, and that's all I'll talk about. My specialist subject is football.

It's what I know, it's what I've trained to do. As soon as I deviate from that into an area where I don't feel qualified to have a huge opinion, I think I go into dangerous ground. My focus is football, running the team. That's all I'm going to talk about, and that's all I'm going to think about. That kind of excellent press conference punting is very Belichick-like,

so good for Eddie. But in terms of success, I assume they're better than 20th place now. Started from the bottom now there. Well, last season they did leap up. They came forth. A place so high, it qualifies for the lucrative champions league, which is club football's biggest global competition. Think March Madness with your Real Madrid,

your Juventus, your Biomunuchs, the powerhouse teams of the football world. Suddenly, Newcastle from this slumbering regional giant, they were big time again. It's an accomplishment that legendary Arsenal ex-manager Arsend venger once described as like a trophy in and of itself. Fourth place? Not even a bronze medal.

What are we, Canada? You're so American. Bill Pellichick would spit on your moral victory. What about off the field? How has the club evolved since the PIFs takeover? Well, there's also, and it should be noted, an almost instant, quite remarkable makeover, a radical makeover of Newcastle United,

suddenly quite lucrative commercial side, bringing in such impressive sponsors you may have heard of them as noon, the largest online shopping destination in the Middle East and seller, a company who say they redefine experiences, events and destinations in Saudi Arabia. Hey, was that a secret ad read? Are you trying to slip one by me that our team doesn't know about here? Regardless, Raj, I wonder how they got in contact with those two companies. They wouldn't happen to be owned by the Piff, would they?

Was it Agatha Christie told me who said, one coincidence is just a coincidence, two coincidences are a clue, and three coincidences are proof. So let me just add that it might not shot you, Thomas. Newcastle's official airline is Saudi Airlines. So the answer is, I guess, very yes. Thank you, Agatha, for that. Okay, so does this make Newcastle fans happy? Oh, Tommy, that's complicated. Let's ask George. The Newcastle that wins, it makes it a productive city, it makes it a positive city. You know, if we don't have that heavy industry anymore, you know, we want people to come and visit.

We want people to see what we've got to offer the world. And it's not just our beautiful city. It's our beautiful countryside. It's Hadrian's Wall. It's our beautiful coastline. It's castles. It's, you know, museums, it's art galleries. It's like really vibrant cultural life.

And Newcastle United being successful on the pitch, showcases all that in a way that nothing else can. And so the takeover has brought that and is bringing all that. And yeah, there's a lot of baggage that comes with it too. But when we've been ignored for so long, it's something that's incredibly valuable. And this is a very precious moment. I suppose it's better to be piffed off than piffed on, Raj. Oh, Tommy, always dropping that tongue, would it wisdom into your podcast scripts? I got the Christie said that as well. Okay. Talking about the Piff, do they see you? their fourth place and a spot in the Champions League is some sort of success.

We asked Tariq that very question, Tommy, but we've got a hunch that it just isn't all about the Champions League. Saudi flags, people talking up Saudi on social media, you suddenly have an army of defenders and apologists for anything the Saudis would have been accused of over the years. Overnight, Newcastle United supporters, many of them at least, have turned into experts in Gulf policy, an army of propagandists sort of emerge as a result of a football takeover. I've not seen something like this in this scale. So like the Saudis bought their own kind of set of Swifties here, Roger. Is that what we're learning? Oh, don't direct me into some beef between Vitor and the Swifties on this on time. I have no problem with the Swifties. I love all

of you. My point is social media was a mistake. Yeah, here's what I'd say. If you're a remember, the Piff bent over backwards to prove almost gymnastically that it was nothing to do with Saudi Arabia at all. Well, within eight months of the takeover, Newcastle United debuted an alternate shirt for the first ever time in green and white, a color combo which the club have no history of. They've never worn anything approaching that before, but it just so happens to be the exact same color palette of, yes, the Saudi Arabian national team. Very subtle. Okay, so we've got Saudi Arabia moving aggressively into sports and soccer in particular, essentially locking up hosting duties for the 2034 World Cup, and we've got the Piff buying Newcastle United.

But what we don't have is a motive for why Saudi Arabia is so interested in sports in the first place. Oh, Tommy, we'll end the way we started and let Tarrick give you a little hint. You have to look at the politics of Saudi Arabia to understand the impetus in sport and football. You have to look at the rise of a chap called Mohammed bin Salman, who, until the latter part of the last decade, is relatively unknown, still very young, a man in his 30s. And it's a do with the dynastic ruling structure of Saudi Arabia. That dynastic ruling structure in the geopolitical history of Saudi Arabia coming up in episode two. I'll just stay here until we take...

That's why I love you, Raj. So I think it was Agatha Christie that said this, never going to give you up. Never going to what? Let you down. Let me out. World Corrupt is an original podcast collaboration from Men and Blazers and Crooked Media's Pod Save the World. Alongside Roger Bennett, I'm your host, Tommy Vitor. The executive producers and writers of World Corrupt are me, Roger Bennett, my great friend Tommy Vitor and the remarkable men in blazers, Jonathan Williamson.

From the crooked media side, our executive producer. is Giancarlo Bizarro. Our producer is Alona Minkowski, and our associate producer is C.J. For Men in Blazers, our writer is a magnificent bearded wonder with three names, Zach Lee, Rigg, with all audio editing and mixing coming from the unbearably talented Mighty Max Jaffe. Original music and audio engineering by Vesili's Votopoulos. Our video producer is Kirill Pahlavi, with additional support from Milo Kim and David Tolls. Social and promotional support for Men in Blazers provided by Charlie Kitt, Randy Kim, Evan Ramis, Sophie Morrison, and Hayden Gray, production support from Jordan Dalmido,

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