Eddie Howe has been urged to use today’s Carabao Cup final to speak out over abuses and executions in Saudi Arabia, in a joint letter from three human rights groups.
Newcastle face Manchester United at Wembley in search of their first major domestic honour since the 1955 FA Cup and Howe has been implored to use the platform to discuss human rights abuses in the country of his club’s owners.
‘A year ago, you promised to educate yourself on the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia,’ reads the letter from groups Reprieve, the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) and ALQST for Human Rights, seen by The Mail on Sunday.
‘Many fans and human rights organisations have pleaded with you to raise your voice about the ongoing execution crisis in the Kingdom. But since then we have heard nothing on this subject from you or your players.’
The letter claims there have been 157 executions in Saudi Arabia since the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund bought Newcastle in October 2021.
Eddie Howe has been urged to speak out on human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final
Newcastle contest their first domestic final in 24 years at Wembley on Sunday – though Howe has been urged to use it to highlight human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia
Newcastle are understood to have received the letter but did not respond when asked if it had been delivered to Howe.
‘As manager of Newcastle United, you have an obligation to the Newcastle community,’ the letter continues. ‘We understand that you may have concerns about getting involved in politics and geopolitics, but human rights are more fundamental than that. If we do not speak out when we see them violated, then our silence sends a message that these abuses do not matter to us.’
‘We urge you to respond to the concerns of fans and human rights organisations. You can use your platform to raise awareness of the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, and there is no better time than this weekend as the eyes of the world are on your club.’
It comes after a Newcastle fan group delivered a letter written by the brother of a man who faces torture and the threat of execution in Saudi Arabia.
Ahmad Al-Rabea wrote that his brother, Hassan, had been abducted at Marrakech Airport in January and taken back to Saudi Arabia where his family fears he’ll be sentenced to death like his other brother Ali for speaking out against the Saudi regime.
‘There will be no glory in victory on Sunday if people who should know better don’t speak up for Ahmed and his brother Hassan and the many victims of the bloody Saudi dictatorship,’ said John Hird, of Newcastle United Fans Against Sportswashing.