Saudi sports drive poses moral dilemma for athletes
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Ned Temko Columnist
| London
They call themselves the Toon Army, a fan fellowship whose passion is extraordinary even by the standards of English soccer鈥檚 Premier League. And last weekend, they were in full voice as they witnessed a remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of their club, Newcastle United 鈥� thanks to players bought with hundreds of millions of dollars in Saudi Arabian investment.
A hundred miles to the south, however, former Leeds University classmates of a woman named Salma al-Shehab had little reason to celebrate. She was last week to 34 years in a Saudi jail. Her 鈥渃rime鈥�? Expressing sympathy for dissidents and political activists on Twitter.
It鈥檚 a stark split-screen. And it sums up a challenge facing not just soccer but a growing range of sports, including boxing, Formula One racing, and, most recently, golf, with reports that the lavishly Saudi-funded new LIV tour is days away from prying more big names from the PGA.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onSaudi Arabia鈥檚 ruler is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in international sports. Should teams take cash from the serial human rights abuser, or take a moral stand?
The question facing the top teams, star athletes, and sports administrators is this: how to balance the allure of the eye-watering sums on offer from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman鈥檚 state investment fund against his regime鈥檚 serial abuses of human rights 鈥� most notoriously, the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Yet while on one level the challenge could hardly seem simpler 鈥� a choice between taking the money and taking a moral stand 鈥� world sport鈥檚 search for a response is proving more complex.
That鈥檚 largely 鈥� but not only 鈥� because they want the money.
Cash is inescapably at the core of the debate surrounding the increasingly ambitious series of sports investments being made by MBS, as the kingdom鈥檚 de facto ruler is known.
For Amnesty International and other human rights groups, the Saudi policy constitutes 鈥渟portswashing,鈥� a transparent bid to burnish the country鈥檚 international reputation by buying its way into pastimes followed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Yet complicating the picture, and so far hobbling any moves toward a more assertive response, have been two political issues: the contradictory nature of MBS himself, an intolerant autocrat who鈥檚 also undertaken social reforms, and the wider prevalence of sportswashing.
Sportswashing is not new. Newcastle鈥檚 opponents in last Sunday鈥檚 thrilling 3-3 draw were the reigning kings of English soccer, Manchester City. They themselves have bolstered their dominance since the team was bought in 2008 by a fund owned by a member of the United Arab Emirates鈥� royal family.
The UAE has also been criticized by Amnesty for 鈥渟erious human rights violations.鈥� Indeed, Sunday鈥檚 game was dubbed by one British newspaper as 鈥渢he greatest sportswashing derby the Premier League has yet known.鈥�
What鈥檚 different, however, about Newcastle鈥檚 $355 million takeover last year was that it involved the Saudi state鈥檚 investment fund, headed by MBS himself.
Since taking power, MBS has ruled with an increasingly authoritarian hand. He has crushed dissent, moving first against royal rivals, then against others deemed a potential threat. Increasing surveillance of ordinary citizens has added a wider political chill.
The U.S. State Department鈥檚 latest annual report accuses his regime of a litany of rights violations, from 鈥渇orced disappearances [and] torture鈥� to 鈥渓ife-threatening prison conditions, arbitrary arrest,鈥� and 鈥渉arassment and intimidation鈥� of dissidents overseas.
And yet he has also been a reformer. He has reined in the fundamentalist police that for years enforced a rigid code of behavior on Saudi society. He has expanded social and economic freedoms and opened the kingdom to foreign influences in movies, music, the arts. He has begun, especially, to loosen the shackles on Saudi women: giving them the right to drive, for instance, and easing their legal dependence on husbands or 鈥渕ale guardians.鈥�
Women have also gained new opportunities to watch, and participate in, sports.
Those opposed to simply turning down the Saudis鈥� money argue that the kingdom is changing, and that sportswashing is an issue by no means limited to Saudi Arabia.
Yet last week鈥檚 sentencing of the former Leeds University dentistry student arrested while vacationing back home last year, has given fresh impetus to human rights groups鈥� contention that this argument is less a reason than an excuse for not taking a stronger stand.
Saudi women continue to face discrimination in marriage, divorce, and other family issues, they point out. Women political activists are still being harassed, detained, and jailed.
In an appeal last weekend for the British government to intervene in Ms. Shehab鈥檚 鈥渟hocking鈥� case, Hilary Benn, a prominent Member of Parliament and former international development secretary, took issue with Saudi claims of reform.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 on the one hand say, 鈥榳e are opening up and liberalizing,鈥欌�� he added, 鈥渁nd on the other hand send a women to prison for expressing her opinions on Twitter.鈥�
