Golf Saudi CEO Al-Sorour appointed to Newcastle United board of directors

NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United have appointed Majed Al-Sorour, CEO of Golf Saudi, to the club’s board.

A filing on Companies House in the UK confirmed the appointment of Al-Sorour, a former professional footballer and close confidant of Newcastle’s non-executive chairman, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, on Friday, taking the number of representatives on the club’s board up to four members — and the Saudi contingent to two.

Al-Sorour joins Al-Rumayyan, RB Sports & Media’s Jamie Reuben and PCP Capital Partners’ Amanda Staveley in the St James’ Park boardroom.

The former Al-Nassr board member has been a regular attendee at Newcastle games this season, and was present for the first match after the takeover by majority shareholders, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

Al-Sorour’s LinkedIn profile sparked headlines earlier this year when a post stated he’d been a board member at Newcastle since July 2021, which predated the $370million October buyout of Sports Direct sportswear tycoon Mike Ashley. It was then edited out of his profile. 

However, an application to be added as a director has since been ratified by the Premier League and Al-Sorour steps in to the club at a crucial time for Newcastle’s hierarchy, with the club exploring a number of new sponsorship deals ahead of the new season, one of which is rumored to be with Golf Saudi.

The confirmation of the appointment of Al-Sorour comes just hours after images leaked online of Newcastle’s potential new playing kits for next season — and their change kit looks set to mirror that of the Saudi Arabian national team.

Newcastle’s change kit, an alternative to their usual black and white stripes, is often traditionally blue or yellow, but has been known to switch to black or