8 Football Clubs With State or State-Linked Owners (2026)

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is the majority owner of Newcastle United and has been the controlling, or recently controlling, shareholder of several Saudi Pro League clubs. This 2026 list covers eight football clubs with state or state-linked owners: clubs controlled or materially backed by a state, a sovereign wealth fund or a clearly state-linked vehicle.

Key facts

• Scope: eight clubs where a state, a sovereign wealth fund or a clearly state-linked vehicle has a controlling or material disclosed stake, as of 12 November 2026.
• This is not a list of American owners, private-equity owners or multi-club groups. Those buyer types are covered separately in our lists of American owners of European clubs, clubs owned by private equity and multi-club groups in world football.
• A ruling-family company and a named sovereign wealth fund are not the same legal form. Both can be state-linked, and both are labelled as such below.
• Ordinary private owners, even if they are wealthy citizens of a state, are not included unless the owner is a state vehicle or a clearly state-linked entity.

Around 85% PIF's share of Newcastle United after the July 2024 restructuring, with RB Sports & Media holding the rest, according to the club.2011 The year Qatar Sports Investments acquired Paris Saint-Germain, the most prominent European club in its portfolio.30% PIF's remaining stake in Al-Hilal Club Company after Kingdom Holding completed its 70% purchase on 1 September 2026.

How this list is drawn

Each entry starts from an official fund, club or company disclosure, then records the legal name of the owner, the approximate stake and the date of the relevant transaction. The list includes majority control and, where the residual holding is still material, a named minority after a sale. It does not include clubs just because they have a state-linked sponsor, and it does not recap Manchester City's financial-rule cases, which remain regulation stories on this site.

1. Newcastle United

An investment group led by PIF completed the purchase of Newcastle United on 7 October 2021, according to PIF's announcement. The club said on 12 July 2024 that PIF and RB Sports & Media would acquire PCP Capital Partners' shares, after which PIF would control around 85% and RB Sports & Media the remaining 15%. The club's corporate pages still describe the owners as an investment group led by PIF and RB Sports & Media.

2. Al-Nassr

PIF became the major shareholder of Al-Nassr's club company in 2023 under the Sports Clubs Investment and Privatisation Project. On 19 August 2026, as reported by Arab News, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Sport said it had begun transferring the remaining 25% foundation stakes in Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal to PIF, after completing the necessary regulatory procedures. That announcement described a transfer that had begun, not a later confirmation that every share had already moved.

3. Al-Ittihad

Al-Ittihad sits in the same official process as Al-Nassr. PIF has been the major shareholder since the 2023 privatisation, and the August 2026 ministry announcement named Al-Ittihad among the four clubs whose remaining 25% foundation stakes had begun moving to the fund. No separate, later official notice confirming a completed 100% holding is used as a fact here.

4. Al-Ahli

Al-Ahli is the third of the four clubs named in that August 2026 ministry statement, alongside Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal. As with its peers, the documented facts are PIF's position as major shareholder since 2023 and the ministry's statement that the remaining 25% transfer had begun.

5. Al-Hilal

Al-Hilal is the exception in that group, because the residual stake later changed hands in a completed sale. PIF was the major shareholder from July 2023. On 16 April 2026, PIF and Kingdom Holding signed an agreement for KHC to acquire 70% of Al-Hilal Club Company, based on an enterprise value of SAR 1.4bn for the whole company. The club said the purchase completed on 1 September 2026, leaving PIF with 30%. Al-Hilal is therefore no longer majority-owned by the fund, but PIF remains a material, disclosed shareholder.

6. Manchester City

City Football Group's ownership page states that the group is majority owned by Newton Investment and Development LLC, "fully owned by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan", and that Silver Lake holds a significant minority of nearly 17%. Newton is an Abu Dhabi-registered company. This is a ruling-family vehicle, not a named sovereign wealth fund. CFG says it is the private owner and operator of 12 clubs; Manchester City is the flagship entry here, and the network angle is covered in our multi-club list.

7. Paris Saint-Germain

QSI's about page calls it "a strategic, long-term, private investment vehicle" founded in 2004 and highlights "the transformative investment in and long-term ownership of Paris Saint-Germain". The group marked 14 years of PSG ownership in June 2025. This list treats QSI as state-linked because it is a Qatari investment vehicle widely reported as state-backed, while recording QSI's own "private" description. It does not relabel QSI as the Qatar Investment Authority, which QSI does not call itself.

8. KAS Eupen

QSI said on 17 September 2026 that it had completed the acquisition of KAS Eupen and formalised full ownership, after taking over the club's sporting operations in December 2025. The same announcement said KAS Eupen joins QSI's football portfolio alongside PSG and an investment in Sporting Clube de Braga. Braga is not a ninth entry here, because QSI described that holding as an investment, not as full ownership, and did not state a controlling percentage in that notice.

What is left out, and why

This page is not a second ranking of multi-club groups, of American owners or of private-equity-owned clubs. A club can appear in more than one of those taxonomies, but the test here is the character of the owner, not the size of the network. Sponsorships by state-linked airlines or energy companies, on their own, do not put a club on the list. Tourism-board club sponsorships, which are also distinct from ownership, are covered in our lists of 5 Visit Rwanda football club sponsorships and 3 DR Congo Coeur de l'Afrique club sponsorships. Saudi infrastructure plans that have been halted, including the shelved NEOM stadium plan, are not ownership events.

Methodology and update

This page lists eight clubs with a disclosed controlling or material stake held by a state, a sovereign wealth fund or a clearly state-linked vehicle. Legal form, stake and date are taken from official fund, club or company notices where possible, with contemporaneous reporting cited where a government announcement was not available in full official text. Last updated 12 November 2026. The page will be refreshed when a named vehicle buys, sells or reduces a stake in a club that meets this test.

Sources

Official documents and pages are linked above, including PIF's Newcastle and Al-Hilal notices, Newcastle United's July 2024 ownership statement, Al-Hilal's 1 September 2026 completion notice, City Football Group's ownership page, and QSI's about page and KAS Eupen completion notice. Arab News reported the Saudi Ministry of Sport's August 2026 statement on the remaining 25% foundation stakes. Related reading: multi-club groups in world football, American owners, clubs owned by private equity and the shelved NEOM stadium plan.