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The Saudi sporting era shows despite movement toward inclusivity, cash remains king in elite sport.

If you were to ask the question of ‘which country is the sporting capital of the world?’ the common and perhaps historically correct answers would be places such as England, Australia and The USA among other western nations. However, in the past few years it is hard to argue that anywhere in the world plays a more prevalent role in sport than the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Twenty years ago, the notion of Saudi Arabia being a major player within sports would have been laughed off. However, here we sit with seemingly every major sport on the planet making a mad dash toward the undeniable riches that are offered up there. From LIV Golf to heavyweight boxing and now perhaps the jewel in the Saudi crown, the right to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, it has become impossible to ignore the wealth of sporting talent that are plying their trade in Saudi Arabia.

Despite this, the majority of sports fans are at best unsure on, and at worst categorically against, elite sport being taken to Saudi Arabia. Over the past few decades, the sporting world has worked to become much more inclusive and welcoming to all groups, with the phrase ‘sport is for everyone’ ringing through the intercom of almost every sporting event that you can attend. Campaigns such as Rainbow laces provide evidence that LGBT rights are not only accepted in sport, but actively promoted. As well as this Women’s sport is more prominent that ever before with bumper TV deals for the WSL and Women’s Hundred competitions on top of the Lionesses victory at Euro 2022 which took the nation by storm. Therefore, by taking a substantial amount of the worlds top sporting events and handing them to a country in which it is illegal to be a member of the LGBT community as well as backwards views on women’s rights, it draws into question just how committed sport is to become fully inclusive.

Firstly, as previously noted, women are more involved in sports than ever before in history. Whilst male sport is still no doubt still seen as the pinnacle, women’s sport has began to garner a real wealth of support and more young girls are growing up with hopes of getting into sport themselves. According to the UK-based charity the Women’s Sport Trust, 325 million hours of women’s sport were consumed by the public in 2022. This is up 305.9 hours from the 19.1 million hours that were consumed in 2012. This included a peak of 17.4 million viewers on BBC one for England’s lionesses’ triumph against Germany in the Euros final. This is merely 5.6 million lower than the peak viewership of England men’s World cup quarter final against the French a mere 4 months later. The men’s football world cup has long been seen as generally the most important sporting event by English sports fans. Therefore, the idea that the Women’s side would be able to compete in terms of viewership and coverage with that of the Men in a crucial world cup knockout game would have seemed a million miles away even a decade ago.

Embed from Getty Images

The issue then with growing Saudi involvement in sport is that unlike in western society, women are not treated with equality in Saudi Arabia. Women are often treated as property of men with permission from a male guardian required to travel, marry and in some cases receive health care. It is also required for women to cover the majority of their skin other than their faces as a part of the culture. This obviously completely restricts any of the standard sporting attire that we see worn by men and women alike. Above all up until 2018, not only were Women not allowed to take part in sports, but they were not permitted access to any stadiums to watch sport. All these reasons combine to create a place in which Women are both unable to take part in elite sport but also feel safe in travelling to watch it. The National Institute of Health found that one in ever three women in Saudi Arabia is a victim of domestic violence, again outlining the fact that Women will struggle to feel at all welcomed when entering the country. How then, can sport spread the message that ‘sport is for everyone’ when more and more of the top events are taking place in a nation in which 50% of the population are ostracized based purely on their gender.

It has become clear that despite whatever messages that are put out, sport boards across the sporting world will continue to put money over everything else. No one is perhaps more guilty of this than FIFA as they awarded the FIFA World cup to both Qatar and Saudi Arabia despite the problems already mentioned. As well as this throughout the 2023 Women’s World Cup, FIFA allowed Saudi Arabia’s state tourism authority as a sponsor of the tournament. This meant advertisements appeared on the big screen in stadiums as well as being littered over the TV coverage. This was done without any consultation of female players and officials, largely due to the fact that FIFA were well aware of the objections that would have been made against the decision. Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch commented that “The Women's World Cup is a festival of soccer and a celebration of the skill and diversity within the women's game—not an opportunity to launder the reputation of a government that violates women's rights.” It is one thing to allow Saudi Arabia into sport as had been done, it is another to promote the country through women’s football. Saudi Arabia has made very little to no effort to bring elite female sport to the nation and as noted did not allow women into sports stadiums until 2018. How then can FIFA justify allowing the Saudi state tourism authority to advertise over the biggest female sporting event. It is yet another example of how people are disregarded for the sake of sporting bodies making money.

Women are not the only group that are discriminated against in Saudi Arabia. Members of the LGBT community are not only discriminated but criminalized with the highest penalty awarded being that of the death penalty. Sports bodies around the globe have attempted to make sport a more accepting and welcoming place for those of the LGBT community and have encouraged players to be open with their sexuality. Campaigns such as rainbow laces are at the forefront of these messages, by not only ensuring acceptance but actively encouraging people to be proud of their sexuality. While it is still very uncommon to see male footballers come out as a member of the LGBT community, a large number of women’s players are open about their sexuality. Some of the worlds leading players such as Sam Kerr, Beth Mead and England lionesses captain Leah Williamson are all openly gay. Whilst there is still a real stigmatism in the men’s game, we are beginning to see more players open up about their sexuality. Players such as Jake Daniels of Blackpool and Josh Cavallo of Western United FC have both been lauded for their bravery, having come out in recent years.

Embed from Getty Images

Despite all this work being done toward making sport a place in which everyone can be open and proud with their sexuality, it is then all rendered almost redundant as the biggest events in sport are all taken to a nation in which the act of homosexuality is punishable by death. The office for national statistics states that in 2022 3.1% of the UK population identified as LGBT which amounts to over 2 million people. By taking events such as The World Cup and heavyweight boxing fights to Saudi Arabia you are completely blacklisting over 2 million people in the UK alone from attending the events, purely based on sexual orientation. The Coventry City LGBTQ+ supporters group wrote “FIFA showing their true colours once again. They do not care about human rights or inclusivity. They care only about one thing: cha-ching.” Which nicely brings us around to the main point of this article. That ultimately when Saudi billionaire’s offer huge sums of money, all sporting morals and the fight for inclusivity are shoved under the carpet, and it isn’t just sporting boards that are guilty of this.

The emergence of the Saudi Pro League took not only the footballing world but the sporting world in general by storm over the summer with the astronomical amounts of money that were being thrown at clubs and players alike. Perhaps the most controversial transfer to come out of the summer window was that of England vice-captain and supposed LGBT ally Jordan Henderson to Saudi side Al-Ettifaq. Henderson had been commonly found supporting campaigns for LGBT rights and was always quick to show his support when opportunities arose. However, despite all this, the moment Henderson was presented with a supposed £700,000 a week contract, all his morals went out of the window. Former German international and one of the highest profile openly Gay footballers, Thomas Hitzlsperger, stated on twitter that Jordan Henderson’s “Brand” as an ally of the LGBT community is “dead.” Hitzlsperger summed up the feeling among LGBT sports fans as many felt that they had now lost trust in not only the sporting boards but those within the sport that claim to be their ally.

Embed from Getty Images

Henderson’s move to Al-Ettifaq came as yet another example of sport refusing to back up its words with actions, and while the move came with huge backlash, there was something almost unsurprising about the whole thing. If Jordan Henderson, one of the biggest supporters of LGBT rights in football can so easily abandon all his morals for a quick payday, it asks the question of whether there really is anyone in football that can truly say they are an ally of LGBT people. The backlash of the move did not stop with Henderson, with England manager Gareth Southgate taking flack for continuing to select Henderson for the England national team. While first and foremost, Henderson had abandoned playing football at the top level, rendering controversy over his selection to begin with, he had also let down a section of England fans. By taking the move to Saudi Arabia, Henderson would have been well aware of the backlash that he would face from fans back home and has even faced boos from large sections of fans during internationals. Despite knowing how controversial his move would be Henderson, didn’t think twice and even has gone so far as to promote the Saudi World Cup bid, really outlining when push comes to shove, money talks.

All these issues stem back to ultimately determining why Saudi Arabia has suddenly become a major player in sport. On the face of it, the Saudi involvement in sports is the biggest attempt of sportswashing that the sporting world has ever seen. Sportswashing is the idea that a country or company can distract from issues within the nation such as human rights problems by hosting glamourous sporting events in an attempt to say, all is fine here. Saudi involvement really sprang to life with the purchase of Manchester City back in 2008. The move was met with some controversy however with no real fightback from the FA or FIFA, the Saudi’s were able to get their foot in the door which began the slippery slope to where we find ourselves today.

A famous example of sportswashing was 1936 Olympic games in Germany. The Olympics were held just a few years prior to the beginning of the second world war and many of the atrocities toward Jews and other groups had already begun. The Olympics served as a distraction from what was happening within Germany and in fact promoted the nation and the work done by the Nazi party. Whilst sportswashing in Saudi Arabia is perhaps not on the level of Nazi Germany, it is still astounding that nearly 100 years on from the Berlin Olympics, we as a sporting society are still allowing sportswashing to take place and in the case of Saudi Arabia, work with much success.

Sportswashing is not an uncommon term these days and it is well understood that this is the goal of the Saudi sporting events. Despite this each event in Saudi seems to attract more stars than the last, and with a seemingly never-ending pit of money there is no reason to see it stop any time soon. The fact is that these events are being hosted to try and distract from the horrendous treatment of women and LGBT members in Saudi which makes it even more troubling to see supposed role models promote such events.

In reality, people like Jordan Henderson who claim to be an ally of the LGBT community are most likely just that. However, nothing has quite outlined the selfishness of sports stars more than the Saudi era of sport. Henderson, very likely is sincere in his support for the LGBT community but the moment a huge sum of money is offered to him, he backtracks in order to become wealthier and support himself and his family. While ultimately this understandable, it does outline the main reason as to why no matter how much sport attempts to convey a world in which anyone can attend and enjoy sport no matter race, religion, gender or sexuality, this will always be secondary to money.

Perhaps it says more about sport generally than purely the fight for inclusivity, as while no doubt LGBT members and female sports fans have been thrown under the bus with the events in Saudi Arabia, it is also sports fans generally who have been ignored and disregarded throughout. The World Cup move will mean another winter tournament despite the horrendous reception to the event in Qatar. There are also British stars such as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua who seem to ply their trade exclusively in Saudi, robbing fans of the opportunity to watch their heroes live. So, while it is clear inclusivity is harmed by Saudi Arabia, sport in general is suffering as well. A fairer conclusion may be that instead of stating that money takes precedent over inclusivity in sport, but rather money takes precedent over everything in sport. Conclusively, cash is king in elite sport, and it won’t be changing any time soon.

If you were to ask the question of ‘which country is the sporting capital of the world?’ the common and perhaps historically correct answers would be places such as England, Australia and The USA among other western nations. However, in the past few years it is hard to argue that anywhere in the world plays a more prevalent role in sport than the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Twenty years ago, the notion of Saudi Arabia being a major player within sports would have been laughed off. However, here we sit with seemingly every major sport on the planet making a mad dash toward the undeniable riches that are offered up there. From LIV Golf to heavyweight boxing and now perhaps the jewel in the Saudi crown, the right to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, it has become impossible to ignore the wealth of sporting talent that are plying their trade in Saudi Arabia.

Despite this, the majority of sports fans are at best unsure on, and at worst categorically against, elite sport being taken to Saudi Arabia. Over the past few decades, the sporting world has worked to become much more inclusive and welcoming to all groups, with the phrase ‘sport is for everyone’ ringing through the intercom of almost every sporting event that you can attend. Campaigns such as Rainbow laces provide evidence that LGBT rights are not only accepted in sport, but actively promoted. As well as this Women’s sport is more prominent that ever before with bumper TV deals for the WSL and Women’s Hundred competitions on top of the Lionesses victory at Euro 2022 which took the nation by storm. Therefore, by taking a substantial amount of the worlds top sporting events and handing them to a country in which it is illegal to be a member of the LGBT community as well as backwards views on women’s rights, it draws into question just how committed sport is to become fully inclusive.

Firstly, as previously noted, women are more involved in sports than ever before in history. Whilst male sport is still no doubt still seen as the pinnacle, women’s sport has began to garner a real wealth of support and more young girls are growing up with hopes of getting into sport themselves. According to the UK-based charity the Women’s Sport Trust, 325 million hours of women’s sport were consumed by the public in 2022. This is up 305.9 hours from the 19.1 million hours that were consumed in 2012. This included a peak of 17.4 million viewers on BBC one for England’s lionesses’ triumph against Germany in the Euros final. This is merely 5.6 million lower than the peak viewership of England men’s World cup quarter final against the French a mere 4 months later. The men’s football world cup has long been seen as generally the most important sporting event by English sports fans. Therefore, the idea that the Women’s side would be able to compete in terms of viewership and coverage with that of the Men in a crucial world cup knockout game would have seemed a million miles away even a decade ago.

The issue then with growing Saudi involvement in sport is that unlike in western society, women are not treated with equality in Saudi Arabia. Women are often treated as property of men with permission from a male guardian required to travel, marry and in some cases receive health care. It is also required for women to cover the majority of their skin other than their faces as a part of the culture. This obviously completely restricts any of the standard sporting attire that we see worn by men and women alike. Above all up until 2018, not only were Women not allowed to take part in sports, but they were not permitted access to any stadiums to watch sport. All these reasons combine to create a place in which Women are both unable to take part in elite sport but also feel safe in travelling to watch it. The National Institute of Health found that one in ever three women in Saudi Arabia is a victim of domestic violence, again outlining the fact that Women will struggle to feel at all welcomed when entering the country. How then, can sport spread the message that ‘sport is for everyone’ when more and more of the top events are taking place in a nation in which 50% of the population are ostracized based purely on their gender.

It has become clear that despite whatever messages that are put out, sport boards across the sporting world will continue to put money over everything else. No one is perhaps more guilty of this than FIFA as they awarded the FIFA World cup to both Qatar and Saudi Arabia despite the problems already mentioned. As well as this throughout the 2023 Women’s World Cup, FIFA allowed Saudi Arabia’s state tourism authority as a sponsor of the tournament. This meant advertisements appeared on the big screen in stadiums as well as being littered over the TV coverage. This was done without any consultation of female players and officials, largely due to the fact that FIFA were well aware of the objections that would have been made against the decision. Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch commented that “The Women's World Cup is a festival of soccer and a celebration of the skill and diversity within the women's game—not an opportunity to launder the reputation of a government that violates women's rights.” It is one thing to allow Saudi Arabia into sport as had been done, it is another to promote the country through women’s football. Saudi Arabia has made very little to no effort to bring elite female sport to the nation and as noted did not allow women into sports stadiums until 2018. How then can FIFA justify allowing the Saudi state tourism authority to advertise over the biggest female sporting event. It is yet another example of how people are disregarded for the sake of sporting bodies making money.

Women are not the only group that are discriminated against in Saudi Arabia. Members of the LGBT community are not only discriminated but criminalized with the highest penalty awarded being that of the death penalty. Sports bodies around the globe have attempted to make sport a more accepting and welcoming place for those of the LGBT community and have encouraged players to be open with their sexuality. Campaigns such as rainbow laces are at the forefront of these messages, by not only ensuring acceptance but actively encouraging people to be proud of their sexuality. While it is still very uncommon to see male footballers come out as a member of the LGBT community, a large number of women’s players are open about their sexuality. Some of the worlds leading players such as Sam Kerr, Beth Mead and England lionesses captain Leah Williamson are all openly gay. Whilst there is still a real stigmatism in the men’s game, we are beginning to see more players open up about their sexuality. Players such as Jake Daniels of Blackpool and Josh Cavallo of Western United FC have both been lauded for their bravery, having come out in recent years, with Norwich City wearing T-shirts in support of Daniels ahead of their Premier League match with Tottenham.

Embed from Getty Images

Despite all this work being done toward making sport a place in which everyone can be open and proud with their sexuality, it is then all rendered almost redundant as the biggest events in sport are all taken to a nation in which the act of homosexuality is punishable by death. The office for national statistics states that in 2022 3.1% of the UK population identified as LGBT which amounts to over 2 million people. By taking events such as The World Cup and heavyweight boxing fights to Saudi Arabia you are completely blacklisting over 2 million people in the UK alone from attending the events, purely based on sexual orientation. The Coventry City LGBTQ+ supporters group wrote “FIFA showing their true colours once again. They do not care about human rights or inclusivity. They care only about one thing: cha-ching.” Which nicely brings us around to the main point of this article. That ultimately when Saudi billionaire’s offer huge sums of money, all sporting morals and the fight for inclusivity are shoved under the carpet, and it isn’t just sporting boards that are guilty of this.

The emergence of the Saudi Pro League took not only the footballing world but the sporting world in general by storm over the summer with the astronomical amounts of money that were being thrown at clubs and players alike. Perhaps the most controversial transfer to come out of the summer window was that of England vice-captain and supposed LGBT ally Jordan Henderson to Saudi side Al-Ettifaq. Henderson had been commonly found supporting campaigns for LGBT rights and was always quick to show his support when opportunities arose. However, despite all this, the moment Henderson was presented with a supposed £700,000 a week contract, all his morals went out of the window. Former German international and one of the highest profile openly Gay footballers, Thomas Hitzlsperger, stated on twitter that Jordan Henderson’s “Brand” as an ally of the LGBT community is “dead.” Hitzlsperger summed up the feeling among LGBT sports fans as many felt that they had now lost trust in not only the sporting boards but those within the sport that claim to be their ally.

Henderson’s move to Al-Ettifaq came as yet another example of sport refusing to back up it’s words with actions, and while the move came with huge backlash, there was something almost unsurprising about the whole thing. If Jordan Henderson, one of the biggest supporters of LGBT rights in football can so easily abandon all his morals for a quick payday, it asks the question of whether there really is anyone in football that can truly say they are an ally of LGBT people. The backlash of the move did not stop with Henderson, with England manager Gareth Southgate taking flack for continuing to select Henderson for the England national team. While first and foremost, Henderson had abandoned playing football at the top level, rendering controversy over his selection to begin with, he had also let down a section of England fans. By taking the move to Saudi Arabia, Henderson would have been well aware of the backlash that he would face from fans back home and has even faced boos from large sections of fans during internationals. Despite knowing how controversial his move would be Henderson, didn’t think twice and even has gone so far as to promote the Saudi World Cup bid, really outlining when push comes to shove, money talks.

All these issues stem back to ultimately determining why Saudi Arabia has suddenly become a major player in sport. On the face of it, the Saudi involvement in sports is the biggest attempt of sportswashing that the sporting world has ever seen. Sportswashing is the idea that a country or company can distract from issues within the nation such as human rights problems by hosting glamourous sporting events in an attempt to say, all is fine here. Saudi involvement really sprang to life with the purchase of Manchester City back in 2008. The move was met with some controversy however with no real fightback from the FA or FIFA, the Saudi’s were able to get their foot in the door which began the slippery slope to where we find ourselves today.

A famous example of sportswashing was 1936 Olympic games in Germany. The Olympics were held just a few years prior to the beginning of the second world war and many of the atrocities toward Jews and other groups had already begun. The Olympics served as a distraction from what was happening within Germany and in fact promoted the nation and the work done by the Nazi party. Whilst sportswashing in Saudi Arabia is perhaps not on the level of Nazi Germany, it is still astounding that nearly 100 years on from the Berlin Olympics, we as a sporting society are still allowing sportswashing to take place and in the case of Saudi Arabia, work with much success.

Sportswashing is not an uncommon term these days and it is well understood that this is the goal of the Saudi sporting events. Despite this each event in Saudi seems to attract more stars than the last, and with a seemingly never-ending pit of money there is no reason to see it stop any time soon. The fact is that these events are being hosted to try and distract from the horrendous treatment of women and LGBT members in Saudi which makes it even more troubling to see supposed role models promote such events.

In reality, people like Jordan Henderson who claim to be an ally of the LGBT community are most likely just that. However, nothing has quite outlined the selfishness of sports stars more than the Saudi era of sport. Henderson, very likely is sincere in his support for the LGBT community but the moment a huge sum of money is offered to him, he backtracks in order to become wealthier and support himself and his family. While ultimately this understandable, it does outline the main reason as to why no matter how much sport attempts to convey a world in which anyone can attend and enjoy sport no matter race, religion, gender or sexuality, this will always be secondary to money.

Perhaps it says more about sport generally than purely the fight for inclusivity, as while no doubt LGBT members and female sports fans have been thrown under the bus with the events in Saudi Arabia, it is also sports fans generally who have been ignored and disregarded throughout. The World Cup move will mean another winter tournament despite the horrendous reception to the event in Qatar. There are also British stars such as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua who seem to ply their trade exclusively in Saudi, robbing fans of the opportunity to watch their heroes live. So, while it is clear inclusivity is harmed by Saudi Arabia, sport in general is suffering as well. A fairer conclusion may be that instead of stating that money takes precedent over inclusivity in sport, but rather money takes precedent over everything in sport. Conclusively, cash is king in elite sport, and it won’t be changing any time soon.