The Newcastle United CEO David Hopkinson confirmed on Wednesday that around 25 officials representing the Saudi Arabia PIF majority ownership were flying into Newcastle for a series of key meetings across the following days to progress the club on and off the pitch.
Newcastle United Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is also Governor of the Saudi Arabia PIF, expected to be the lead figure in these discussions.
Top of the agenda reported to be talks and hopefully decisions and announcements made on key infrastructure developments, the much anticipated far bigger stadium and a state of the art training complex.
Eddie Howe also to be involved in some of the meetings with Yasir Al-Rumayyan and his colleagues, with next season to prepare for and plans to be put in place with the summer transfer window less than seven weeks away.
Jamie Reuben also part of these Newcastle United ownership and senior management meetings, heading up the Reuben family minority shareholding.
Now on Thursday morning, news breaking ahead of these Newcastle United meetings that Saudi Arabia is to end their huge funding of LIV Golf and that NUFC Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan is stepping down from the LIV Golf board.
The whole enterprise has been a massive flop despite billions ploughed into it by the Saudis. There is talk of trying to continue the LIV Golf project in some way but that sounds pie in the sky with the Saudi funding now withdrawn.
It had already been widely reported that Saudi Arabia were scaling back on some of their investments, including in Sport. However, it had been made clear that Newcastle United wouldn’t be part of that scaling/cutting back and that the Saudi Arabia PIF still see the football club as a long-time project and a very important one, especially with the profile of the Premier League.
It is naturally interesting that this LIV Golf news coincides with the Newcastle United meetings.
A part of me daydreams that Saudi Arabia PIF might now want a huge positive story to help balance off the LIV Golf negativity. What better than announcing concrete plans for a huge brand new Newcastle United stadium and state of the art training complex…? Especially when Yasir Al-Rumayyan is Chairman of Newcastle United.
BBC Sport report – 30 April 2026:
‘Saudi Arabia will withdraw its multi-billion dollar backing of LIV Golf at the end of the season, plunging the future of the series into further doubt, BBC Sport has been told.
It comes amid reports that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) could confirm that its governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan is stepping down from LIV’s board. Al-Rumayyan co-founded LIV in 2021 and has been the tour’s most powerful figure.’
Clutch Points report – 30 April 2026:
‘The future of LIV Golf is extremely up in the air, as the league is set to inform players that the funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will dry up at the end of 2026. Hours after that dropped from the Wall Street Journal, Sports Business Journal reporter Josh Carpenter added more. The PIF Governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, has stepped down from LIV Golf, the league he helped found.
“Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund who founded LIV Golf alongside Greg Norman nearly five years ago, has stepped down from his position as chairman of the LIV board, according to three people briefed on the matter,” Carpenter reported.’