The £300m takeover of Newcastle United has been branded “immoral”.
A Saudi-backed consortium is set to take control of the Tyneside giants in the next three weeks.
But they have been accused of buying Newcastle to become a “propaganda vehicle for one of the most brutal and authoritarian regimes in the world”.
Financier Amanda Staveley has assembled a buy-out including the Saudi Public Investment fund, chaired by ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who will take an 80 percent stake.
The Reuben brothers and Staveley are set to each have 10 percent.
And it can be revealed that Staveley finally persuaded the Saudis to invest last October on the Red Sea...on a £500m mega yacht called Serene.
She met the Crown Prince, along with Yasir al-Rumayyan, head of the sovereign wealth fund, and revived their interest in a deal to buy Newcastle.
The deal is currently being scrutinised by the Premier League who will rule if the bidders are fit and proper people to own a club.
Campaigners yesterday stepped up their pressure on the Crown Prince’s regime which has been involved in a war with Yemen and jailed human rights campaigners.
Andrew Smith, of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, said: “If this immoral bid succeeds it will provide yet another propaganda vehicle for one of the most brutal and authoritarian regimes in the world.
"The last thing that Premiership football needs is the involvement of the Saudi dictatorship.
“This is sports-washing plain and simple. Football clubs are still community institutions and should leave a positive footprint. Money should not trump values.
“The message that this deal would send is one of contempt for the many thousands of victims of Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.”
The UK has licensed the sale of more than £5bn billion of arms to the Saudi regime in the last five years, since the bombing of Yemen began.
Amnesty International have also voiced concerns about the deal.
