The government believes it is up to the Premier League to come to a conclusion 'as quickly as possible' regarding the stalled takeover of Newcastle United.
A takeover had never been closer than it was last summer - Mike Ashley agreed to sell the club to Amanda Staveley, the Reuben Brothers and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) - but the consortium encountered complications with the Premier League's owners' and directors' test.
Those complications, concerning who was going to the club's ultimate beneficial owner, are now subject of an arbitration hearing between Ashley and the Premier League, which is due to get under way at some point this month.
READ MORE: Ombudsman wants Premier League response
Ashley has called on the Premier League to hold the dispute in public and an explosive club statement stated that if the Premier League 'has acted lawfully and properly, it should have no reason to be afraid' of holding the hearing out in the open.
Staveley has since written to Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston to 'urge the government to add their voice to our request to the Premier League to have these processes made in public'.
Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah has also pleaded with Mr Dowden to 'intervene where you can in this process to allow fair and open decision making' but it appears the government minister won't be doing so.
"The independent fan-led review of football governance is ongoing and continues to gather views from all corners of the football community on the ownership, governance, regulation and finance of football," a DCMS spokesman told ChronicleLive.
"As the governing body in this instance, it is up to the Premier League to come to a conclusion as quickly as possible and with due regard to transparency."
