Premier League set out arguments against Newcastle United CAT case ahead of takeover arbitration

Mike Ashley, through St James Holdings, has brought a case to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) following the Premier League’s failure to approve a proposed £300million sale of the club to a consortium which included Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

A jurisdiction hearing today will decide whether the case can proceed.

Adam Lewis QC, representing the Premier League, argued before the three-man panel that the issues in the CAT case are the same as those that will be addressed by a week-long arbitration hearing which is due to start on January 3.

Lewis also insisted that the club is bound by Premier League rules, and that the takeover dispute, which concerns the separation between the Saudi state and PIF, must be settled through arbitration.

Part of the hearing, which is being live streamed, was heard in private following an application from the Premier League, though a summary of non-confidential information given in that section was read out in public.

The Honourable Mr Justice Miles said: "I want to make the following clear that there's a strong presumption in favour of these hearings taking place in public.

"Secondly, a good deal of information about the events that happened are already in the public domain.

"On the other hand, there is a confidential arbitration. It’s in the nature of arbitration that it's confidential. It's not for one party to say it is does not wish for the matter to be confidential, and for that to override the confidentiality of arbitration.”

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