Newcastle
United: Eddie Howe defends club's decision to hold training camp in Saudi
Arabia
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."
