Newcastle United takeover: Details as key arbitration date revealed in Competition Appeal Tribunal hearing

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is attempting to resurrect a proposed £300million sale of the club to a consortium which included Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund through an arbitration process.

This was delayed until “early 2022” in the summer “due to issues with the disclosure of evidence”, though no date was revealed at the time.

A club statement on July 19 read: “The main hearing of the arbitration has regrettably now been adjourned until early 2022 due to issues with the disclosure of evidence. The parties will be making no further comment at this time.”

Ashley has also brought a separate anti-competition claim against the Premier League, which failed to make a timely decision on the takeover last year.

The proposed date for arbitration was revealed as January 3 in today’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) jurisdiction hearing, which is being streamed live.

Part of the CAT hearing, which will decide if the club’s case can proceed, is being heard in private following an application from the Premier League, which wants to keep some information confidential.

The club’s CAT case alleges that the Premier League breached articles 101 and 102 of the Competition Act 1998 when they failed to approve the sale, which was agreed early last year.

The Premier League argue that arbitration covers the same ground as the proposed CAT case, and its membership rules state that disputes should be resolved through this process. As such, it does not want the case to proceed.