1
'I would welcome Saudi investment': Diamond details Newcastle backing
Newcastle Falcons are preparing to host representatives of the Saudi sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF), hoping to attract crucial financial backing from the kingdom that already funds Newcastle United football club in the city.
ADVERTISEMENT
Steve Diamond, the consultant director of rugby, believes that while funding is not currently on the table, the visitors will be impressed enough to consider adding the Falcons to their sporting teams.
Diamond said: “I know they’re coming over to one of our home games. They’re in many sports at the minute and they want rugby to be a focus point in Saudi Arabia. I don’t think for a minute it was about going there, opening a war chest, and saying I can go and buy the All Blacks team. I would like that but I don’t think that’s going to happen. There is a natural connection with the soccer team here who are owned by those people.”
Saudi funding in football, golf and boxing has focussed on the nation’s human rights record and while Diamond is well aware of the potential negative reaction, he believes rugby cannot turn any financial back away at a time when the Premiership clubs are losing millions every season.
“I think we should call that (human rights record) into question,” he added.
“I am not skilled enough to talk about human rights but it doesn’t seem to bother any other sport performing in Saudi Arabia. Rugby union is very good at killing itself isn’t it? There’s only rugby good enough to shoot itself in the foot with any political statement and turn away investment.
“I don’t think there is potential investment (in Falcons) at the minute. Semore Kudri (Falcons owner) through his business contacts went out and met all the rugby union dignitaries in Saudi Arabia. I don’t think for a minute they’re expecting us to put a game on before the Tyson Fury fight in May in Riyadh. But they want to investigate how we can help them and how they can reciprocate if there is any investment.”
Diamond finds it “bizarre” that the Premiership is planning to raise the salary cap from £5m to £6.4m next season and Newcastle don’t even reach the current limit let alone aim to increase their spending on players. In fact, the Falcons are planning to cut 20 players to create a 36-strong senior squad next season supplemented by academy players.
ADVERTISEMENT
He added: “I would welcome Saudi investment. Bizarrely, maybe I’ll get my legs chopped off for this, the salary cap is going up and it beggars belief really. Club rugby is in a delicate position. It needs to get out of the jam its found itself in.“
Diamond, who takes Newcastle to Exeter Chiefs on Saturday in his first league game in charge having replaced Alex Codling, has lost Guy Pepper to Bath while Phil Brantingham and Louie Johnson are off to Saracens with the director of rugby claiming all three could be “trapped in the bowels of the super-clubs.”
He said: “Saracens have a track record of winning things – Bath haven’t. My advice to those players was not to go, even if they were only going to sign for one or two years here, because they’d get more out of playing for me, playing week-in, week-out, than they will do trapped in the bowels of the super-clubs.”
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments