The Independent Football Ombudsman (IFO) has asked the Premier League to respond following a complaint from a frustrated Newcastle United supporter as the club's takeover saga drags on.
Mike Ashley has launched two separate disputes against the Premier League after the top-flight failed to reach a decision on the Magpies' Saudi-backed takeover nearly a year ago.
Newcastle fans contacted the ombudsman, Professor Derek Fraser, last summer while the Premier League stayed silent on the matter and the collapsed takeover has again been brought to his attention.
READ MORE: Chi Onwurah sends Newcastle takeover hearing message
The IFO was set up by the Football Association, the Premier League and the Football League in 2008 to investigate complaints which have not been resolved by these bodies.
Noting how the Newcastle United Supporters' Trust (NUST) had requested that the Premier League should make a statement to fans explaining how the takeover was handled, last August, the ombudsman advised the top-flight to do as much.
This did not go unnoticed and even Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was 'pleased' that the ombudsman had 'committed to advising the Premier League to provide a statement'.
Richard Masters, the Premier League's chief executive, ultimately wrote a letter of reply to Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah, which was made available to the public, as he finally broke his silence on the matter before he was quizzed by the NUST a few weeks later.
Now, nearly a year on, a Newcastle fan has made a brief complaint to the IFO about the Premier League in relation to the 'ongoing delay' to the club's legal fight.
ChronicleLive understands that the ombudsman received his first complaint on the matter on Monday afternoon and this has now been forwarded to the Premier League as Professor Fraser seeks a response.
Ashley's anti-competition claim has been delayed by another week after the Premier League were granted a further seven days to 'file and serve its evidence' by Hon Mr Justice Roth.
"I am satisfied that the requested short extension of seven days will not prejudice the listing of the hearing of the jurisdiction application and is reasonable given the concurrent demands on the defendant in preparing for the arbitration proceedings," the president of the Competition Appeal Tribunal wrote.
The club's separate arbitration battle is set to get under way at some point this month.
This hearing is due to take place in private although Newcastle stated that if the Premier League had acted 'lawfully and properly, it should have no reason to be afraid of the public spotlight' while suitor Amanda Staveley has asked for 'immediate intervention' to force the dispute 'out in the open'.
Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah has also called for the hearing to be held in public in letters sent to Masters and Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
ChronicleLive understands Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell is also writing to Mr Dowden while North West Durham MP Richard Holden intends to raise the issue, too.
Staveley, the Reuben Brothers and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) had agreed to buy the club last year but the consortium encountered complications with the Premier League's owners' and directors' test when it came to who would be the Magpies' ultimate beneficial owner.
The Premier League believed that Saudi Arabia, the state, would have needed to become a director of the club and this conclusion is now the subject of Newcastle's arbitration dispute.
