蜜芽传媒

Fans of Newcastle United sang for joy yesterday as the news broke that a Saudi-led takeover had been approved. It follows "a painful 14 years" of under-investment in the football team which is currently second from bottom of the table.

The deal was highly controversial, with critics accusing the Saudis of trying to divert attention from their poor human rights record by associating themselves with the glamour of a top Premier League club - a strategy that's been labelled 'sports washing'. The Premier League said in a statement that it had received legally binding assurances that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia would not control Newcastle United.

Lee Ryder is from the Newcastle Chronicle newspaper.

"As far as sports washing is concerned it's something we probably all need to educate ourselves on... and certainly we will be seeing a lot more articles about this."

(Photo: Fans celebrate takeover announcement. Credit: Action Images via Reuters)