18 Premier League clubs vote to stop Newcastle United completing sponsorship deals | OneFootball

So many Premier League clubs are running scared from second bottom of the table Newcastle United.

A new media exclusive revealing that rival Premier League clubs called an emergency meeting to try and stop the new Newcastle United owners progressing their plans at St James Park.

The Guardian have broken the story and they detail how the other Premier League clubs are trying to stop Newcastle United signing new lucrative sponsorship deals that will help the rebuilding of NUFC, after over 14 years of Mike Ashley neglect.

The vote was won by the 18 Premier League clubs voting for a temporary rule change, for the next month initially, it is intended to stop commercial arrangements that involve pre-existing business relationships.

Even though it applies to all clubs, it is obviously all about stopping Newcastle United trying to compete and catch up with other clubs.

At the meeting, The Guardian say that their sources inform them that Newcastle United said at their meeting that they had taken legal advice that made clear this attempted rule change was unlawful. That this brazen attempt by the other Premier League clubs would be shown to be anti-competitive if / when challenged legally.

The newspaper says that Newcastle were represented at the meeting by Lee Charnley, who remains managing director for the time being at St James Park.

There were 18 Premier League clubs in favour of this pre-emptory strike against Newcastle United, who were the only club to vote against the change.

Manchester City abstained and The Guardian say that they did so, as they also have had legal advice informing them that the attempted move is unlawful. City have already benefited from these type of ‘related party transactions’, one big example was the one that saw Etihad Airways become a key sponsor.

The new temporary rule applies to all 20 Premier League clubs but the intention is to try and make this a permanent arrangement, to prevent related party transactions, or at least ensure that a ‘fair market’ price is agreed on any sponsorship deals.

The Guardian add that a working party has been set up to use this next month to investigate what changes should be put in place long-term, with Newcastle United invited to be part of this working party on the issue.

By the very nature of the fact that this was an emergency meeting and vote called, it is patently obvious this is all about trying to prevent Newcastle United moving forward with their plans, even more reason to believe the other Premier League clubs are on very shaky ground when they have made it so transparent they are banding together against another club.

Imagine what the panic will be like amongst these other Premier League clubs when NUFC actually win a football match under these new owners!