The see-saw saga of the takeover of the club by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia tipped the balance back towards jeopardy last week when the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that Saudi Arabia had breached its obligations regarding international piracy.

FIFA duly backed the ruling and BeIN Sports, the Qatar-based broadcaster which is carrying a $1 billion international arbitration case against Saudi Arabia over the dispute, as well as demanding that the kingdom should take "the necessary steps" to protect media rights partners and "football itself" from piracy.

UEFA were equally unequivocal, warning that beoutQ, which was hosted on Arabsat, based in Riyadh and majority Saudi-owned, threatens the lucrative broadcasting deals which are the financial lifeblood of the game at the highest level and "the existence of professional sport as we know it.”

Little wonder, then, that Saudi officials launched an "online inspection campaign" against piracy in the kingdom on Sunday, claiming to analyze 231 websites with a view to banning them from being browsed domestically.

The Official Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property announced that websites involved in illegal streaming would be shut down, with fines of around $66,000 for sites breaching copyright protection law and jail sentences of up to six months for individual perpetrators.

"That's the Primer League's 'do something about the piracy' box ticked then," one Newcastle fan drily remarked on social media, reacting to news of the potential punishments and a letter from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation assuring major sports bodies and every broadcasting rights holder that it accepted its anti-piracy responsibilities.