| MBS
Is Denied Newcastle by Premier League
After WWE Was Sued on Saudi Deals in SDNY
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Aug 16 – Vince McMahon and the
WWE have been sued in the U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York,
in a complaint alleging harm
to investors by dubious deals
with the Saudi royals. On July
30 SDNY Judge Jed S. Rakoff
held oral argument, which
Inner City Press live tweeted,
below.
Now in
August UK Premier League chief
Richard Masters has explained
to a British MP the failure of
Saudi Arabia's sovereign
wealth fund to gain an 80 per
cent share of the club.
The process was stalled by
concerns about piracy by the
kingdom and human rights
complaints. In the
letter to local MP Chi
Onwurah, Masters said that
"the Premier League recognized
this dispute and offered the
consortium the ability to have
the matter determined by an
independent arbitral tribunal
if it wished to challenge the
conclusion of the board. The
consortium chose not to take
up that offer, but nor did it
procure the provision of the
additional information.
"Later, it (orthe Saudi Public
Investment Fund specifically)
voluntarily withdrew from the
process. The Premier
League faced calls to block
the takeover by Hatice Cengiz,
the fiancee of murdered
journalist and Saudi critic
Jamal Khashoggi.
Back on July 30,
Inner City Press live tweeted
about another Saudi sports
scandal: The complaint says
WWE "faced blowback for
willingness to work with the
Saudis, given the human rights
abuses." Lawyer now cites
"crown jewel" event, with cut
feed and hostage
situation.
This WWE case has
a proposed Confidential
Witness. "CW-1 was not at
NBC... They had a deal with
the Saudi sports
authority."
Defense: In
Lockheed, your Honor was
presented with confidential
witnesses with real
info.
Judge Rakoff:
CW-1 was involved in a later
stage, and concluded that the
parties were 'worlds apart.'
Plaintiffs' counsel infers
they weren't close months
earlier.
Plaintiffs'
lawyer: "CW-2 is a former
wrestler who will testify
about the disagreement between
McMahon & the Saudi Crown
Prince."
Oral argument
zeroed in on WWE's (non)
disclosure of the early
cancellation of media deals in
20 countries the Middle East.
Large stock sale
by McMahon just before the end
of a financial quarter is also
cited.
The cases are
Szaniawski v. World Wrestling
Entertainment, Inc. et al.,
20-cv-2223 (Rakoff) and City
of Warren Police and Fire
Retirement System v. World
Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
et al., 20-cv-2031 (Rakoff)
***
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