Saudi ownership at LCFC

[KFS]

1 hour ago, tom27111 said:

Some people would genuinely walk away after spending a lifetime supporting us? 

 

Are you forgetting that Milan Mandaric owned us? The same guy that happily sold Portsmouth to an arms dealer?

 

The game is a joke mate. Not the same as what we fell in love with. VAR, money and plastic fans all over the place is ruining it. Genuinely rather the disappointment of getting slapped by half the crap teams we used to than the anger inducing nonsense we’ve had over the past couple of weekends. That Brighton game was a fvcking farce. And now we’ve got another side just pumping money into it while we’ve tried to sustainably build? Doesn’t sound too fun to me. 

[Metal Lover]

If they swapped the family stand for the cop and pies were warmer I'd be up for it.

[Footballwipe]

I think the main thing here for me isn't the walking away, I think that's such an unrealistic expectation on the vast majority of fans.

 

The issue, proven by Newcastle fans, is that the takeover then hires you hundreds of thousands of supporters to staunchly defend your regime.

 

Look at their fans now, whataboutery, downplaying the human rights record, lots of "yeah, but..." in there.

 

I think a lot of people are like that on here with our owners, with some on here being called ungrateful when they have the temerity to question something. 

 

Recognising that their activities are grotty at best, but knowing you just want to support the team you've lent your life to, is probably as good as it gets for the majority. It just sits really uncomfortably when you drop all your morals just for a bit of cash for your football club.

[eblair]

7 hours ago, Voll Blau said:

King Power ain't exactly saints when it comes to their connections so, regrettably, we're in no position to judge.

 

That's depressing.

There are levels: and the the clubs owned by oil states or oil magnates are I think on another level

 

No billionaire is ‘good’; but as they go I think I prefer the corner shop owners in thai airports to people sponsoring terrorism or having slave labour 

[Pliskin]

8 hours ago, Voll Blau said:

King Power ain't exactly saints when it comes to their connections so, regrettably, we're in no position to judge.

 

That's depressing.

You won’t find a single honest billionaire on the planet, you don’t gain that kind of wealth from being an eternal good (guy/woman/however they chose to identify). Every billionaire has a few smelly skeletons in their closet. 
 

 

The question is with a lot of clubs ownerships are they willing to allow the club to uptake the accepted moral standards in this county today, such as support of the LGBTQ+ groups, women’s rights and human rights. I mean, women have only recently been allowed to drive….. thats, the Saudi men have only recent permitted women to drive…….. I’m not naive enough to think every other ownership is clean, perhaps it’s something we as a country now need to really look at, should we be allowing consortiums to run our clubs, who’s moral’s do not reflect our own?  

Edited 7 October 2021 by Pliskin

[Nalis]

There arent many clubs in the top 2 tiers of english football that can claim the moral high ground when it comes to club ownership.

 

Some of the stuff on social media slating Newcastle is hilarious, as if the people pointing the finger gave a shit about the ethics of their own owners. I know there are different levels of morals at play between owners but the blame shouldnt sit with Newcastle or their fans at all, it should sit with football in general.

 

As Strider eloquently put, we are incredibly lucky to see our club win the league in the matter we did as it is looking more and more unlikely something as shocking will happen again for any club in my lifetime anyway.

Edited 7 October 2021 by Nalis

[Guest ttfn]

No problem with Newcastle getting a windfall, good on them.

 

People need to be transparent about the fact that they either don’t care or don’t know about the human rights abuses rather than just deflecting to other clubs.

 

The same goes for this club as well by the way. Only a couple of years since the whole stadium was applauding the Thai King following his death. This is a man who it was illegal to criticise in Thailand. Not “you can’t say anything anymore” illegal, actually illegal. 

[Foxxed]

I’d enjoy the initial success but then it would feel hollow to know my team were buying rather earning success.
 

Thailand’s political system is less than saintly but I’m glad we’re not a friendly face for Saudi’s war, a war causing a humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

[Le Renard]

We all know that most Billionaires probably got their money through some shady dealing and questionable practices, but King power are nothing like the state mobsters about to take over Newcastle.  I don't think we've heard of King power ordering state sponsored killings or chopping heads off!

 

I'm sure most fans of clubs don't give a s**t who owns their club it could be Hitler or Stalin for all they care, as long as the cash is spent and the club starts challenging for silverware.  Newcastle will become another club to hate along with Citeh and PSG, who are owned by countries that like to imprison people and torture them. 

[FoxesWalk]

Wouldn’t be happy about it, but would still watch our games, would be less likely to buy from the shop/give money to the club in general. Imagine most of our fans will be associated with the club longer than any owner we will have… it would take a lot to stop me supporting after this long. 

[Paninistickers]

5 hours ago, tom27111 said:

Some people would genuinely walk away after spending a lifetime supporting us? 

 

Are you forgetting that Milan Mandaric owned us? The same guy that happily sold Portsmouth to an arms dealer?

 

The mad old fart (as Bentley's roof used to call him) was just a 'Well connected US / Serbian businessman'

[Finnegan]

I'd boycott. @Voll Blau and @Pliskin and a few others are right to imply that there's no saintly billionaires. I'm not naive enough to think that my own football club, let alone the wider Premier League, was pure before Saudi Arabia entered the chat. Shit, I mean the UAE is largely completely evil.

 

But this feels like a step too far. You're talking about one of the most evil "governments" (it feels wrong to validate them by even calling it that) in the world and the idea that its not them, its some completely separate corporation ("honest!") is quite frankly offensive. 

 

The amount of money in football and the disparity it's causing is already a massive burden on my ability to enjoy it. We should all be angry that businesses around the country went under, people lost their jobs all over the place and the economy took a huge hit because of COVID and yet football was still making 100m transfers and arguing over the placement of Coke bottles on interview tables. 

 

The monarchy of Saudi Arabia actually owning my club would be the steel girder that broke the camel's back. 

 

It's ridiculous defending them by pointing out King Power are a bit shady, to be honest, they're infinite layers of magnitude worse. If King Power was literally the Monarchy of Thailand you'd have some point, albeit it still wouldn't be quite as bad. 

 

[Guest ttfn]

8 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

I'd boycott. @Voll Blau and @Pliskin and a few others are right to imply that there's no saintly billionaires. I'm not naive enough to think that my own football club, let alone the wider Premier League, was pure before Saudi Arabia entered the chat. Shit, I mean the UAE is largely completely evil.

 

But this feels like a step too far. You're talking about one of the most evil "governments" (it feels wrong to validate them by even calling it that) in the world and the idea that its not them, its some completely separate corporation ("honest!") is quite frankly offensive. 

 

The amount of money in football and the disparity it's causing is already a massive burden on my ability to enjoy it. We should all be angry that businesses around the country went under, people lost their jobs all over the place and the economy took a huge hit because of COVID and yet football was still making 100m transfers and arguing over the placement of Coke bottles on interview tables. 

 

The monarchy of Saudi Arabia actually owning my club would be the steel girder that broke the camel's back. 

 

It's ridiculous defending them by pointing out King Power are a bit shady, to be honest, they're infinite layers of magnitude worse. If King Power was literally the Monarchy of Thailand you'd have some point, albeit it still wouldn't be quite as bad. 

 

Agree with the first half of this but I just don’t see the difference between Newcastle and Man City or PSG, for example. We’re ascribing immaterial differences in moral values between one human rights abusing country and another. It’s all awful.

 

Creating relative levels of moral depravity in the ownership of PL clubs is falling into the exact same trap as Newcastle fans. “Don’t look over here, what about them, they’re worse than/the same as us”. We all need to own the fact that this is the game football is now. Clubs are not run for fans, they are run for hedge funds, vanity and to wash the image of nation states and we’re just the puppets in it.

 

Perhaps there is a spectrum, but we - Leicester - are on it. As are the biggest clubs in the country in Liverpool and Man United and even clubs with seemingly more wholesome backgrounds like Brentford. A proper conversation needs to be had here but right now it seems that it is split into either people furious at the prospect of Saudi investment into a club and city that will benefit from it immensely and Newcastle fans sticking their fingers in their ears and pointing at other clubs for comparatively minor issues. That conversation starts with the acknowledgment that the game is broken and we’re all to a greater or lesser extent complicit.

[Finnegan]

2 minutes ago, ttfn said:

Agree with the first half of this but I just don’t see the difference between Newcastle and Man City or PSG, for example.

 

My post is a bit of a mess because I'm sleepy and frankly just ranting because the entire thing depresses me. 

 

For the record, the difference is that they don't own Leicester. I'm already pretty burdened by my loathing for the billion (trillion?) pound industry that is the Premier League but my love for this club just about keeps me engaging. 

 

If we were owned by an absolute monarchy as horrendous as Saudi, Qatar or the UAE then I'd walk away. 

 

Although, whilst I accept your general point that comparing one country with no human rights to another is a bit redundant, I'm sorry but Qatar and Abu Dhabi are like ants to Saudi. They absolutely definitely are worse. 

[OntarioFox]

Would probably give non-league a go. Coalville Town or Quorn or someone.

 

Our owners' wealth accumulation wasn't exactly by being angels, but for me there's a huge moral gulf between dodgy duty free monopolies and literally being in charge of one of the most barbaric regimes to exist in our world today, and one responsible for worldwide misery through their meddling in other regions.

 

I'd rather not financially support a regime that would stone some of my gay mates in the streets, just because they bought something I'm emotionally attached to. Even taking away the thought of our club becoming a soulless husk like so many of the ultra-rich Man Citys and PSGs of this world, I couldn't bring myself to back my team while it became a sportswashing vessel for a Sharia state. A lot of terrace-going Newcastle fans are so blinded by their (understandable) hate for Ashley that they're getting behind something they're probably going to regret in ten years' time, when one of the most passionately-supported clubs in the country becomes a lightning rod for armchair fans and the twitterati, all while giving free copy for people in charge of truly medieval practices.

 

Football will continue to exist, and it would be hard to leave LCFC behind, but I'd eventually find myself getting the same rush and cameraderie wherever I watch it. We here all know what makes us love it - not just the game and the goals but the people we meet and befriend, the banter and the before and after.

 

People refer to these clubs getting obscene state-backed investment as a 'cheat code', but I think that's wrong. It's more like a monkey paw. Grants you your three wishes, but each one comes with a catch or drawback. You become successful, but it becomes hollow and loses its joy. A great deal of older Maine Road era Man City fans would vouch for that.

Edited 7 October 2021 by OntarioFox

[Jakemoore]

9 hours ago, Samilktray said:

Depends if we signed Mbappe 

Can he play CB? 

[Matt_Lcfc]

I’d assume that pretty much all PL owners have done some questionable things / have some dodgy connections. You really don’t get that rich from being a nice guy 

[foxile5]

10 hours ago, Stadt said:

I’d be a fan of the club regardless of the owners. The club and fans will last longer than any ownership will

Not if the right owners come in and fold us good and proper. 

[stripeyfox]

tbf The Saudis are probably more morally upstanding the Mike Ashley 

[sylofox]

Much as I cant thank Top and family enough for what they have given us my support is for the foxes not the owners.

[CosbehFox]

The thing I find a bit peculiar about King Power's ownership is the sheer investment they have made into the city of Leicester itself. You wonder why they couldn't do that closer to home. 

 

By contrast Man City's owners have completely redeveloped an area of Manchester but it will be to their gain when/or if they sell it when the value is significantly higher. 

 

 

[CosbehFox]

48 minutes ago, ttfn said:

Agree with the first half of this but I just don’t see the difference between Newcastle and Man City or PSG, for example. We’re ascribing immaterial differences in moral values between one human rights abusing country and another. It’s all awful.

 

Creating relative levels of moral depravity in the ownership of PL clubs is falling into the exact same trap as Newcastle fans. “Don’t look over here, what about them, they’re worse than/the same as us”. We all need to own the fact that this is the game football is now. Clubs are not run for fans, they are run for hedge funds, vanity and to wash the image of nation states and we’re just the puppets in it.

 

Perhaps there is a spectrum, but we - Leicester - are on it. As are the biggest clubs in the country in Liverpool and Man United and even clubs with seemingly more wholesome backgrounds like Brentford. A proper conversation needs to be had here but right now it seems that it is split into either people furious at the prospect of Saudi investment into a club and city that will benefit from it immensely and Newcastle fans sticking their fingers in their ears and pointing at other clubs for comparatively minor issues. That conversation starts with the acknowledgment that the game is broken and we’re all to a greater or lesser extent complicit.

I am glad someone has mentioned them - I am not entirely comfortable with a club being owned by someone who actively benefits on the gambling associated with the Premier League and English football. 

[moore_94]

10 hours ago, Voll Blau said:

King Power ain't exactly saints when it comes to their connections so, regrettably, we're in no position to judge.

 

That's depressing.

I don't know... not too sure Top/Vichai/King Power are quite as bad as someone who had his personal guard chop up a journalist...

Edited 7 October 2021 by moore_94

[FOXSE]

I love people are saying that king power are no angels so we can't really say anything about Saudi Arabia. I mean I have seen sonme false equivalences in my time, but that is a new level.

 

Apart from Saudi Arabia's appalling domestic human rights record, they literally murdered a Saudi Arabian journalist, who lived abroad and worked for the new York Times. When he went to a Saudi Arabian embassy to complete paperwork to allow him to get married, When he got there, he was murdered and chopped up into little pieces. 

 

I mean, come on!

[MattFox]

Half our fanbase would be down the KP dressed as Sheikhs