Almost seven months after the Saudi Public Investment Fund closed a $409 million purchase of the Premier League Newcastle United Football Club, the new away kit has renewed questions over "sportswashing efforts" by the Middle Eastern Kingdom.
Newcastle United & Saudi Arabia obviously connected. NUFC don't need to wear a green-white away kit for it to change this truth. Why pretend? They decided to accept the Saudi money. It's their new reality. Get on with it or sell again to different colours like Disney/McDonald's pic.twitter.com/BofwyLlm6i
— Ignat Football (@IgnatFootball) May 14, 2022
Despite the lack of official confirmations, a leaked photo suggesting changes made to the away colors for Newcastle United FC has been linked to the colors of the Saudi flag and the ones worn by the Saudi national team. Meanwhile, the home color kit will remain the same.
Fans, activists, and commentators have been questioning the reasons behind the change, and whether or not it is meant to sportswash the country's global reputation after a series of controversies that generated negative reactions worldwide, such as the war in Yemen, arresting leading human and women's rights activists, and the killing of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018.
Others have wondered if the changes are meant to boost shirt sales among the club's fans both in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.
The Guardian has quoted Amnesty International UK’s head of campaigns, Felix Jakens, who highlighted Saudi's efforts to utilize sports to "sportswash its brutal, blood-soaked human rights record."
“If it is true that Newcastle United is changing its away kit to match Saudi Arabia’s national colours, it exposes the power of the Saudi dollar and the kingdom’s determination to sportswash its brutal, blood-soaked human rights record,” - Felix Jakens
The Saudi Public Investment Fund purchased the English football club in October 2021. Yet, only recently did Newcastle FC appoint the chief executive of the Saudi Golf Federation, Majed Al-Sorour to the club's board.
