The fiancee of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi has pleaded with Newcastle United and the Premier League to ensure "moral values prevail" as Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) seeks to buy the club.
The PIF, backed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, is nearing a £300million takeover deal of the Magpies, who are currently owned by Mike Ashley.
Financier Amanda Staveley, whose firm is PCP Capital Partners, is leading the bid backed by the PIF and the Reuben brothers, Simon and David - though the deal has been criticised by Amnesty International.
Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist, author and columnist for the Washington Post, was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018.
Khashoggi had been at the consulate to obtain documents regarding his planned marriage to Hatice Cengiz, but never left the consulate alive.
Western intelligence agencies, including the CIA, concluded that Bin Salman had ordered the assassination of Khashoggi, though the Crown Prince has denied the allegations.
A Saudi court sentenced five people to death and sent three more to jail for the murder of Khashoggi in December 2019, though a UN expert labelled the trail as "the antithesis of justice."
With the PIF seeking an 80 per cent stake in Newcastle, Amnesty International has since warned that the Premier League risks becoming "a patsy" as Saudi Arabia seeks to "sportswash" its image abroad.
And Khashoggi's former fiancee, Cengiz, has called on Ashley and Premier League "decision makers" to put a stop to the proposed takeover and show that "money cannot buy everything in the world."
"Moral values should prevail," Cengiz told BBC 5 Live.
"My message would be to the management of Newcastle United and to the decision makers.
"We should consider ethical values, not just financial or political ones. Money cannot buy everything in the world. So the message that will be given to people like Crown Prince is extremely important.
"There should be no place in English football for those credibly accused of atrocities and murder".
The Premier League's owners and directors test assesses the suitability of would-be buyers on a set of established criteria.
The rules allow the league to consider whether the buyers have the means to fund the club, and examine any criminal convictions in the UK or overseas.
