Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has defended the club’s decision to return to Saudi Arabia for a warm-weather training camp, saying it was made from a “purely footballing backdrop”.
The Magpies will travel to Riyadh from 4-10 December during the Premier League’s break for the World Cup, and will play Al-Hilal in a friendly.
A Saudi-backed takeover of the club was completed in October 2021.
The club previously travelled to Saudi Arabia in January.
“We’ve made a football decision. We’ve looked at the World Cup break, what’s the best thing for the team,” said Howe.
“The best thing for the team, I believe, is to take the team away like you would in pre-season, away from distractions, a chance to really train the group, enhance the team spirit with hopefully some good weather, so that’s what we’ve done.
“We’ve made it from a purely footballing backdrop.”
Newcastle’s ownership model has been controversial since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) took over at the club last year, with human rights groups saying the move is an attempt to ‘sportswash’ the country’s image.
Upon taking an 80% stake in the club, Newcastle’s owners had to provide “legally-binding assurances” to the Premier League that the state would not control the club despite Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also being the chair of PIF.
In the summer, a pre-season friendly with Mainz went ahead despite fans of the Bundesliga club protesting that Newcastle was a “vehicle for asserting the interests of a regime that tramples on human rights”.
After their trip to Saudi Arabia at the start of the year, Newcastle won five of their next six matches and the club hope the upcoming trip will have a similar effect.
“When you look back to last year, our decision to go there and the benefit it had for the team and the results on our return were really good, so we got a few positive connotations from that,” added Howe.
“Going back to our trip last year, the weather was very good, the facilities were first class, we were able to spend some quality time together to bond the group and really focus our energies on our battle to stay in the division.
“The team spirit off the back of that trip was very, very good. Obviously we have that positive experience to fall back on and it’s helped with our decision this time.”
Source: BBC Sport
