{"id":1350,"date":"2022-02-16T18:05:21","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T18:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/?p=1350"},"modified":"2022-02-16T18:05:24","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T18:05:24","slug":"the-sportwashing-precipice-by-jack-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/?p=1350","title":{"rendered":"The sportwashing precipice – by Jack Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aside from my family and friends, sport is my one true love. You probably gathered that given my last piece on this blog discussed the politics of cricket<\/a>, one of England\u2019s most traditional pastimes. So, when news broke of an imminent takeover of Newcastle United FC in October 2021, I knew I had to get down to St James\u2019 Park, just so I can say I was there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, whilst Newcastle are now one of the richest football clubs in the world, it\u2019s come with huge moral implications. To oversimplify, the new consortium of owners is led by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia; an institution which strategically invests money made from the country\u2019s oil reserves at home and abroad. Although a separate entity from the Saudi government, they are chaired by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bin Salman is a highly divisive figure in foreign relations. Amongst many other controversies, he has been accused of personally ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Because of his connections the PIF, Newcastle\u2019s takeover was condemned by every other Premier League club and various human rights organisations as an act of \u2018sportswashing\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sportswashing is essentially the idea that controversial governments and non-governmental organisations buy into Western sporting culture to improve their international prestige. It isn\u2019t a new phenomenon but has become increasingly prominent in the 21st<\/sup> century. It can be achieved in many ways, whether that be sponsorship of teams\/events, hosting events, or \u2013 like in Newcastle\u2019s case \u2013 the ownership of a sports team. And they aren\u2019t the only football club owned or sponsored by groups linked to oil-based economies either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formula One \u2013 another sport I love \u2013 has been falling foul of sportswashing for years. They hosted a Grand Prix in apartheid South Africa for 25 years, and have recently signed decade-long deals to host races in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other controversial locations. Saudi Arabia has also hosted the famous Dakar Rally since 2020. Quite incredible for a nation who didn\u2019t let women drive until 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to football, Qatar \u2013 famous for its footballing prowess (he said sarcastically) \u2013 are hosting the World Cup later this year. This is despite them being accused of harbouring financiers of terrorism and utilising slave labour to build tournament infrastructure. And that isn\u2019t even the only sportswashing event this year, because one\u2019s happening right now! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China is facing a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics which is currently taking place in Beijing. I spoke about this briefly in the second episode of PolSoc Pod<\/em> (which you can listen to via the PolSoc Pod <\/em>tab on this blog). However, a recent surge in authoritarian actions by the Chinese government is something which should be of great concern to the West, especially when they\u2019re hosting major international events like the Winter Olympics. Concerns also continue over the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who accused a Chinese official of coercing her into sex. She has since backpedalled on these claims, but worries for her remain legitimate as she\u2019s likely been forced to do this by the Chinese government.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sportswashing is a concept which absolutely fascinates me, mainly because it combines two things I\u2019m gripped by; sports and foreign policy. My dad told me to start checking when tickets for the World Cup this year go on sale. He\u2019d love to watch England (inevitably) bring football home in glorious weather despite it being Christmas. But I don\u2019t think he realises if we did go, we wouldn\u2019t just be supporting England. We\u2019d be indirectly backing FIFA, an organisation rotten to its core, and the Qatari regime \u2013 who we in the West would see as being backwards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s dumbfounding how the moral implications of sportswashing have seemingly been brushed under the rug by Western sports fans. Regretfully, money talks. Sportswashing justifies further the age-old claim that sport was \u2018Created by the Poor, Stolen by the Rich\u2019<\/em>. Do you think that\u2019s morally right, especially since the \u2018Rich\u2019<\/em> in these scenarios are being accused of such awful things? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t a criticism of Newcastle fans \u2013 that would be preachy. I fell in love with the Geordies the first time I stepped onto the Leazes End of St James\u2019; I didn\u2019t know such passion was possible in modern football! However, I need them to know it\u2019s okay to be concerned by the ethical implications of their owners. Sportswashing might be more normalised now, and yes, it\u2019s hypocritical of teams like Manchester City to condemn them, but two wrongs don\u2019t cancel out.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western sport is currently on a precipice \u2013 under threat from corrupt governments and NGOs wanting to clean up their look. I cannot begin to tell you how dangerous this is for sport. We have to make sure we hold them to account for the sake of these great events I and many others love. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aside from my family and friends, sport is my one true love. You probably gathered that given my last piece on this blog discussed the politics of cricket, one of England\u2019s most traditional pastimes. So, when news broke of an… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.northumbria.ac.uk\/politics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}