Newcastle boss Eddie Howe says he will continue to stick to football rather than comment on world events
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Published 16/03/2022 at 13:33 GMT
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe says he will continue to "stick to football" rather than comment on wider world events. It was reported that Saudi Arabia executed 81 people last week and with the Gulf state's Public Investment Fund owning 80% of Newcastle, questions are regularly heading Howe's way - but he continues to bat them away.
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Newcastle manager Eddie Howe says he will continue to talk only about football rather than embroil himself in discussions about things outside his comfort zone.
With Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich sanctioned by the UK government last week due to his purported links to Russia president Vladimir Putin, the topic of Premier League club ownership is currently front and centre of the football media landscape.
And with Saudi Arabia reportedly executing 81 people last week - the Gulf state's Public Investment Fund is the majority owner of Newcastle - Howe is facing repeated questions about his opinion on the situation.
However - as he has done since taking over on Tyneside - he is refusing to be drawn into comment.
"I've read up on the situation and will continue to do so," Howe said ahead of his side's Premier League trip to Everton on Thursday night.
"Obviously part of my job now in the modern football management scene is to know what's going on around the world and I will have to do that.
"But football will have to be and will always be my passion and it will always be the main crux of my job - and I think that's where my time needs to be spent.
"I was a footballer with a slight difference. I was 19 or 20 at Bournemouth going onto the team bus with The Times under my arm and getting some very strange looks from my team-mates.
"But I come from a family where things were pushed towards me and I was quite interested in world politics. I had a little more time when I was playing to actually look into it.
"Now that I'm managing, your time is such a scarce resource. That is not to say I don't keep up-to-date. It is something I will have to dedicate more time to, but it has gone out of my life slightly.
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"From my perspective - and I've always maintained this - my specialist subject is football. It's what I know, it's what I've trained to do.
"As soon as I deviate from that into an area where I don't feel qualified to have a huge opinion, I think I go into dangerous ground, so I prefer to stick to what I believe I know.
"I'm hugely proud to represent this football club and the supporters and the city and I'm trying to create a team the city can be proud of and all my energy is going into that and will continue to."
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