The problem is how transparent the Premier League have been, particularly with Newcastle. The hypocrisy is blatant and out there in the open. 'Related party' deals have always been part of football, because business people are going to find sponsors from their personal contacts. It was never an issue when Mike Ashley was doing it, because he never threatened to win anything. It's not been a problem with Bayern Munich being sponsored by companies that own shares, even when their commercial income is vastly inflated compared to similarly-sized clubs, because they were an already established club, so no-one noticed.
One that I remember was when Liverpool got taken over by an American and the next year they had the biggest shirt deal in history from Warrior; an American company that no-one had ever heard of, who could suddenly outbid Nike or Adidas, and give a record shirt deal to a team that at the time was finishing 8th. That company just happened to be owned by a personal friend of the new chairman and was swiftly taken over by New Balance, so didn't really get any benefit from the publicity.
And this is the racism that they talk about. Two American friends supporting each other's business are seen as completely above board (and why not?). A Germany company sponsoring a club they have shares in is seen as fine. Two companies that both happen to come from the UAE are automatically portrayed as related parties purely based on that fact. There's this constant narrative just below the surface that there's something murky and shady about Arab businesses.
