Saudi Sports Chief Turki Al-Sheikh in Talks to Buy Stake in Derby County

Turki Al-Sheikh is seeking to buy a stake in Derby County, a move that will require approval from the independent football regulator formed in 2025. Al-Sheikh, 44, chairs Saudi Arabia's General Sports Authority and is a prominent figure in the circle of Mohammed bin Salman. He has previously owned clubs in Spain and Egypt and is among the most powerful figures in world boxing.

The regulator now administers the owners, directors and senior executives test for Championship clubs, a responsibility transferred from the English Football League. Derby County, the regulator and Al-Sheikh's representatives declined to comment when contacted by the BBC. Felix Jakens, head of campaigns at Amnesty International UK, said the application presents a defining test.

"Will it allow a senior representative of a government directly implicated in mass human rights violations to take control of one of the country's oldest football clubs? The regulator must ask these questions and answer them transparently," Jakens said. Amnesty International reported that 356 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2025.

Jakens added that Al-Sheikh "is not a private businessman. " Al-Sheikh previously held takeover talks at Bristol City and expressed interest in Southampton and Millwall. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund already owns Newcastle United, raising separate questions about multi-club ownership rules that bar any individual or entity from determining the management of more than one English league club.

David Clowes bought Derby County out of administration in summer 2022 and has sought new investors since 2024. Clowes has said he could sell upwards of 80 percent of his stake. Al-Sheikh bought Egyptian side Al Assiouty Sport in 2018, renamed it Pyramids FC and moved it 250 miles to Cairo before leaving the club by 2019.

He purchased Spanish club Almeria for €20 million when it was in the second division, saw it promoted after three seasons and sold it to Mohammed Al-Khereiji in May 2025. Cristiano Ronaldo became co-owner of Almeria in February. Derby County supporter Sam Jones, a 37-year-old boxing manager who has worked with Al-Sheikh, said he was "excited straight away" by the prospect of investment that could help the club return to the Premier League after almost two decades away.

Jones cited a May boxing event Al-Sheikh staged at the Pyramids of Giza, headlined by Usyk versus Rico Verhoeven with Jack Catterall on the undercard. Catterall won the WBA regular welterweight belt. Jones said a sandstorm hit about half an hour before Catterall's ring walk.

"If Turki Al-Sheikh does take over the club or invest heavily in the club, whatever he's doing, and he puts in a quarter of the effort that he has done with boxing, making all the biggest fights come true, then Derby County fans need to be very excited," Jones said.

Rams fan Nick Webster said the fan base is divided. "Many are excited by the billions that potentially could be invested, and then there are the human rights and all the other issues that are going on.

Then there will be people in the middle, and it will make a lot of people uncomfortable," Webster said.