Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has defended the club’s decision to head back to Saudi Arabia for a controversial warm-weather training camp this winter.
The Magpies travelled to Jeddah in January of this year for similar reasons and according to the Independent, the Tyneside club will return to the Gulf state again this year between December 4 and 10 and will face Pro League champions Al-Hilal in a friendly whilst the World Cup is taking place in nearby Qatar.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund holds an 80 per cent stake in the consortium which bought Newcastle in October last year and the country is adamant that it does not make decisions regarding the football club.
This trip is likely to draw criticism onto the club again due to its ties to the Middle East nation and its poor human rights record and when asked about the trip, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe defended the club’s decision.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe defends the club’s decision to travel to Saudi Arabia
When asked about the trip during the World Cup, Howe said via the Independent: “We’ve made a football decision. We’ve looked at the World Cup break, and what’s the best thing for the team.
“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.”
Asked if he and his players would be doing any promotional work while they were away, and about Saudi Arabia’s hopes of hosting the 2030 World Cup finals, Howe insisted he was unaware in both instances.
Howe continued to defend the trip by stating: “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.”