A thread on prospective new #NUFC chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Lots of profiles just refer to him as 'golf-loving' but haven't delved deeper.

At the launch of the inaugural Saudi International in Jan 19 he spoke in detail about both Jamal Khashoggi's murder & 'sportwashing'...

On Khashoggi's murder: "There was criticism with the 'event'. It was wrong," he said. "It wasn't something we are proud of or sponsored by the government. Opening up to the world [through sport] has nothing to do with that criticism. That's our decision..."

Al-Rumayyan then went on a tangent, citing the 1979 Islamic Revolution & how it set Saudi back. But interestingly, in the context of the #NUFC takeover, he stressed the need for Saudi Arabia to host or fund sport at home rather than spend money on tourism or events abroad...

"The Saudis are spending more than $20 billion on an annual basis in tourism outside of Saudi," he said. "So we said, 'Why the hell are they not spending time here in Saudi?' So we brought whatever events and things to Saudi Arabia, so it would create more jobs."

Assuming this point still applies, the prospective #NUFC owners would surely look to tie the club in with Vision 2030. This means not just promoting Saudi tourism from afar through sponsorship.

PIF are also extremely keen to host high-profile sport in new 'super city' Neom...

Neom is short for 'Neo Mostaqbal' or 'New Future'. It will fully open by 2025. It is designed to be a smart city with far more of a 'western' feel and has already hosted some beach soccer last year...

Al-Rumayyan. was also asked about Ronaldo's visit to Saudi Arabia for the Italian Super Cup, WWE and the Anthony Joshua fight. He didn't answer on any of these specifically, but did address Saudi culture, law and equality...

"It's not only Saudi," he said. "It's 18 other countries [like] Africa, Egypt, Lebanon, which is more liberal, people would think. They've the same rules but nobody talks about them. Change is happening & coming. But you can't flip things overnight. That'd cause destruction."

Useful to republish these quotes, which didn't get much attention at the time since a number of foreign journalists (along with golfer Paul Casey) boycotted the tournament.

And, as a final aside, if you're wondering what Al-Rumayyan's golf is like... he's a 16-handicapper, who clearly doesn't enjoy par-fives