Human rights leader Amnesty International has described Saudi Arabia's bid to buy Newcastle United as an "attempt to wash shame through sport".
The British newspaper "Sun" said that businesswoman Amanda Staffeli, whose name was previously associated with the purchase of "magbies" as the Newcastle team called, has struck a deal between the sovereign wealth fund in Saudi Arabia and the current owner of the club Mike Ashley.
While Newcastle fans have been desperate for Ashley's departure for years, Amnesty has raised concerns about possible alternatives to the Direct Sports giants, a grouping that includes Mohammed bin Salman.
Amnesty International's UK Campaign Head Felix Jackkins said that, given the large scale everyone is seeing recently in Saudi sports in sports, the acquisition of Newcastle will not come as a big surprise.
He added that Saudi Arabia is known for its attempts to "wash shame through sport" by using the luster and prestige of high sport as a tool of public relations to deflect attention from its poor human rights record.
He continued that during the era of Muhammad bin Salman there was a comprehensive human rights campaign with the imprisonment of many peaceful activists, including Lujain al-Hathloul and other brave women human rights defenders.
There was a blatant whitewash of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the appalling, and there are continuing concerns about Saudi piracy, and the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen has a bloody record of indiscriminate attacks on homes and hospitals, Jacques noted.
He also indicated that in Amnesty International, they should not specify who should own Newcastle United, "but club staff, technicians and players alike must realize this for what it is, shame washing through sport, simply."
He stressed that this effect of "shame washing" could be countered if the stakeholders were ready to do so, adding that the staff and fans of the club should know the tragic situation of human rights in Saudi Arabia and be ready to talk about it.
In addition to Mohammed bin Salman, who was closely associated with the purchase of Manchester United in the past, Direct Sports is believed to include billionaire brothers David and Simon Robin, the newspaper said.
According to the British newspaper, The Guardian, informed sources believe that the completion of the deal is "90 percent certain."
Speculation is likely to increase that the deal is finally completed after Ashley's accountants were told in recent weeks that Newcastle would not return to their books, according to the Financial Times.