Saudi Arabia Prince in negotiations to inivest in cash-strapped Yorkshire

Yorkshire is negotiating with a Saudi prince and government official about buying the poor club.

Mail Sport has learned that CEO Stephen Vaughan has held talks with Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud over a remarkable deal that would see the Saudi businessman buy off the £15 million debt Yorkshire owes former chairman Colin Graves.

Yorkshire are desperate for outside investment, with Mail Sport revealing last month that if the club fail to secure additional funding they may not be able to pay player and staff salaries before the end of the season. The season.

It is clear that Prince Badr’s offer would be on the table that he take over Graves’ debt without injecting any equity into Yorkshire, which could appeal to the members as it allows them to remain a members’ club.

Badr is said to have promised to charge Yorkshire less than the four per cent interest the club currently pays to the Colin Graves Trust, who have agreed to defer a £5 million repayment they owe until October, so they can complete the season.

There are concerns that Yorkshire may not be able to pay their players later this season unless they get extra money

A further cash injection from Badr into Yorkshire could follow at a later date, with the Saudi government encouraging investment from wealthy individuals in all sports after their own huge spending on acquiring football clubs such as Newcastle, Formula 1 racing, world boxing championships and the Rebel LIV golf tour.

Badr has been involved in some of those projects after being appointed as Saudi’s first Minister of Culture in 2018 with the primary task of working towards Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to reduce their dependence on oil by promoting the country as a important cultural, sporting and tourist destination.

The 37-year-old was formerly chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group, a media company that has signed several deals with US and UK companies, including the launch of Bloomberg’s first Arabic-language news channel, Bloomberg Al Arabiya.

Saudi Arabia has been looking to add cricket to their growing sports portfolio for some time and has recently held talks with the owners of several IPL franchises about establishing a new T20 league.

According to reports last month, the proposed new tournament in the Middle East will feature teams linked to the existing IPL franchises with 12-month contracts on offer posing a potential threat to international cricket, although India’s Board of Control for Cricket remains reluctant to release Indian players to play in a foreign league.

Yorkshire still have to pay off a £15 million debt to their former chairman Colin Graves

Yorkshire are looking for a £20m loan to pay off the £15m to Graves and a further £5m needed to see them through the season since last December, but as Mail Sport revealed last month their pitch to investors fails due to concerns over the club’s financial projections.

It is believed several banks have questioned Yorkshire’s claims in their pitch to investors about the money they can raise through naming deals, pop concerts and compensation from the ECB.

Any decision to accept Badr’s debt financing offer would have to be ratified by the members of Yorkshire.

A Yorkshire spokesperson said: “Stephen Vaughan is currently overseas and could not be reached for comment.”