Brighton host Newcastle whose Saudi bankrollers issued a death sentence for Twitter post

The latest visit of Newcastle United to Brighton & Hove Albion gives us a chance to look at some of the totally normal stuff the Toon Army’s Saudi Sportswashing bankrollers have done over the past 12 months since they last came to the Amex.

You know, the totally normal stuff that they want nobody to talk about. That is the whole point in owning Newcastle. So that Saudi Arabia are associated with a great football team, trophies and bringing success to one of the oldest and most traditional clubs in England.

Rather than border guards launching mortars and firing machine guns at people trying to cross the border from war-torn Yemen, likely killing hundreds of unarmed migrants.

According to Sky News: “Human Rights Watch said eyewitness reports and pictures mention and show dead bodies and burial sites along routes used by migrants, adding the number of those who have died could even be in the thousands”.

The Sky report spoke to several survivors of these murders by Saudi border guards. One said: “There were 20 in our group and only 10 survived.”

“Some of the mortars hit the rocks and then the [fragments of the] rock hit us. The weapon looks like a rocket launcher, it had six mouths six holes from where they fire, and it was fired from the back of a vehicle – it fires several at the same time. They fired on us like rain.”

A 14-year-old said: “We were fired on repeatedly. I saw people killed in a way I have never imagined. I saw 30 killed people on the spot.”

“I pushed myself under a rock and slept there. I could feel people sleeping around me. I realized what I thought were people sleeping around me were actually dead bodies. I woke up and I was alone.”

Or how about the recent case of a Saudi man sentence to death for the crime of… posting on Twitter. The sentencing of retired teacher Mohammad Alghamdi is the latest in an escalating crackdown on social media users in Saudi Arabia.

While others are serving prison terms ranging from 20 to 45 years for their tweets and online criticism of the government, Mr Alghamdi appears to be the first person to be put on death row for having an opinion contrary to how he is supposed to think.

Mr Alghamdi had a total of just 10 followers between the two anonymous accounts he ran on X. According to Human Rights Watch, the father of seven used the social media site to rail against alleged government corruption, but was mostly retweeting posts by more popular government critics.

Whilst Newcastle fans wave around Saudi flags in homage their bankrollers and the Saudi national team prepares to play two September internationals at St James’ Park, bodies litter the ground and a man in his mid-50s awaits execution for posting on Twitter.

That is nothing to something celebrate. It is not something that should even be ignored or have a blind eye turned to, as a lot of Toon Army supporters have when issues like the mass execution of 81 men in a single day or the murder and dismembering of journalist Jamal Khashogg are brought up.

Newcastle fans. https://t.co/RtiZEmz12r pic.twitter.com/bxNJGTiQoS

— We Are Brighton (@wearebrighton) June 18, 2023

Brighton hosting Newcastle brings two contrasting styles of how to become a successful football club into competition. On the one hand, you have a team bankrolled by blood money for the purposes of trying to cleanse the image of a barbaric regime.

And on the other, the Albion. A club funded by a very rich and very generous lifelong fan, under whose ownership regular League One relegation battles have been swapped for Europa League football. Oh, and the loan signing of Barcelona’s number 10.

Friday 1st September will be a day that goes down in Brighton history. But how different would the excitement brought about by Ansu Fati and drawing Ajax, Marseille and AEK Athens have felt if we all knew it came in exchange for mass executions and freedom of speech being so restricted that people can be killed by for saying what they think? Not to mention what happens to the LGBTQ+ community in Saudi Arabia.

Very different is the answer. Everything would be tainted. Newcastle might be on their way to turning the Big Six into the Big Seven and beheading into the Champions League this season, but it has come at a cost. They have sold their soul for success – although success has eluded them so far in the 2023-24 season.

Newcastle were admittedly given a tough start to the campaign. Games against Manchester City and Liverpool in their opening three fixtures were always going to be difficult.

But if the Saudi Sportswashers want to finish in the top four again (or even challenge for the the title) those are the matches they need to be getting points from, if not winning.

Back-to-back defeats mean Eddie Howe should probably turn down any invites to the Saudi embassy in the near future, unless he fancies being tortured and cut into tiny pieces.

Howe and Newcastle will fancy their chances of getting back on track at the Amex. The Toon are undefeated against Brighton since the Saudi takeover and Smug Eddie has a ridiculously good record as manager against Brighton, going all the way back to when he was first appointed boss at Plucky Little Bournemouth over a decade ago.

Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named. Oscar Garcia. Chris Hughton. Graham Potter. Even Roberto De Zerbi. All have struggled when up against a Howe-managed team, with May’s visit to St James’ Park offering a case in point.

Newcastle got their tactics spot on. Counter attacking football. Long balls forward to a powerful striker supported by quick wide men.

Howe found a way to overcome DeZerbiBall as Newcastle sauntered to a 4-1 victory. West Ham deployed a similar approach last Saturday when running out 3-1 winners at the Amex.

Newcastle therefore arrive in Sussex already possessing a blueprint for success. The challenge for De Zerbi is finding a way to ensure Brighton are not so susceptible to the way the Toon and West Ham played against them. Otherwise, what has been a fantastic week to be a Seagulls supporter could well end in disappointment.

And would that not be Typical Brighton? Everyone giddy with excitement about trips to Amsterdam, Athens and the south of France. The signing of Fati. Only for the Albion to bring us crashing back down to earth with a bang by losing their next game.

But if that happens, at least we can console ourselves that we are not be acting as cheerleaders for a barbaric, human rights abusing nation. Some things are more important than football.