The chairman of English soccer club Newcastle United is facing a $74M lawsuit for allegedly participating in a harassment campaign on behalf of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince

In October 2021, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) – Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund – purchased an 80% stake in Newcastle, a soccer team in England’s Premier League

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, became the club’s chairman

Al-Rumayyan also leads LIV Golf, a pro golf league in talks to merge with the PGA Tour

Per The Athletic, earlier this month, a former Saudi intelligence officer, Dr. Saad Aljabri, sued Al-Rumayyan as part of a $74M lawsuit

The lawsuit accuses Al-Rumayyan of being “directly involved” in a campaign to harass Aljabri

Aljabri was a former aide to Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was heir to the throne before the current crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), deposed him in a coup in 2017

Saudi Arabia subsequently accused Aljabri of embezzlement and other crimes, causing Aljabri to flee the country and relocate to Canada

Since then, he has alleged being the target of an elaborate harassment campaign, even alleging that in October 2018, Saudi Arabia sent a five-person “hit squad” to Canada to try to kill him

Saudi Arabian prosecutors have also imprisoned Aljabri’s son and daughter on vague charges

Aljabri’s lawsuit, filed in Canada, accused Al-Rumayyan of “[carrying] out the instructions” of MBS with the purpose of “harming, silencing and ultimately destroying” Aljabri’s life and family

That includes “wrongful kidnapping and detention” and the “expropriation” of companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars

Also named as co-defendants in the lawsuit are another PIF board member and the PIF itself

The accusations are expected to put pressure on the Premier League, which as a term of accepting the PIF’s acquisition of Newcastle made it promise that the club will not be controlled by Saudi Arabia

Aljabri’s lawsuit alleges that Al-Rumayyan took orders from MBS, running counter to that pledge

You can read more stories like this in our app

Roca makes staying informed actually fun. Read more stories, solidify your learning with quizzes, play minigames, earn XP, level up, and climb leaderboards