Amanda Staveley says she's "heartbroken" by the collapse of a Saudi-led takeover attempt of Newcastle United.
A group led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PiF) ended their interest in buying the Premier League club on Thursday.
A £300million (€332m) deal had been agreed with owner Mike Ashley sixteen weeks ago, but little progress had been made with the Premier League to complete the transaction.
The consortium said the "unforeseeably prolonged process" led to them ending their takeover attempts.
They also cited the "many real challenges facing us all from Covid-19".
The PiF, led by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, would have gained an 80 per cent stake in the club.
Staveley's PCP Capital Partners would have taken a 10 per cent interest. She's blamed outside forces for the failure of their bid.
"We are heartbroken obviously,” she told The Times.
Staveley was asked if she blamed the dithering of the Premier League for the collapse of the bid, "Of course we do. They had a chance, they say we have not answered all the questions and we have done so.
"But the other clubs in the Premier League didn’t want it to happen.
"We are so heartbroken for the Newcastle fans as the investment that was going to go into the club, especially with everything happening with Brexit and Covid, would have been so important.
"This is catastrophic for them. It has been going on for so long and the opportunity was there".
The Times also claim that sources close to the bid suggest that Tottenham and champions Liverpool were among the most vocal opponents to Saudi investment.
It's believed that Saudi Arabia's appalling human rights record was not a reason for the Premier League's reluctance to rubberstamp the deal.
Despite a World Trade Organisation report criticising Saudi Arabia's involvement in the piracy of BeIN Sports coverage, Staveley claims that wasn't an issue either.
"The piracy issue was not an issue but we tried to resolve it anyway," she said.
“They [the Premier League] tried to make the state of Saudi a director. The PIF had agreed to become a director."
Staveley suggests their may still be "a way forward" for their takeover attempts, but for now the dream of £250million investment over five-years in the team is over.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
