Sports and the All-Mighty Dollar: Saudi Arabia and the New Age of Sports Washing

By William T. McAndrews III

The year 2010 marked a number of significant milestones in the world of sport. The first being the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa, marking the first time the tournament was held on the continent of Africa.[1] Many doubted that a nation such as South Africa could pull off such a large-scale tournament, but they did. South Africa left a legacy that opened the door for similar nations to do the same.[2] FIFA sought to follow up by awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, making it the first time a country in the Middle East would hold the tournament.[3] However, instead of being celebrated as an expansion of the beautiful game to the Arab world, this news was followed with numerous criticism regarding corruption and moral issues.[4] These accusations and criticisms were characterized as an example of “sportswashing.”[5] Sportswashing by definition is when nations uses sport to disseminate information in order to distract, cover up, or enhance their reputation.[6] The association of sport invokes powerful, positive emotions that can cloud the judgment of people and form a strong positive bias when discussing ethical issues in question.[7] While the growth of sports in the world has exploded in the past twenty years, the practice is not new and has been around since the early twentieth century.[8] One famous example of sports washing was in the 1936 Olympic Games hosted by Nazi Germany.[9] Hitler and the Nazis viewed the Olympics as a tool of propaganda to distract from their horrific actions and an attempt to justify their belief in racial superiority.[10]

For the case of Qatar, hosting a World Cup would be used to enhance the nation’s reputation and cover up the reports of slave-like labor and anti-LGBTQ treatment within the country.[11] In addition, the accusation of Qatar being awarded the tournament due to bribery scandals and corrupt deals following the expulsion of previous FIFA president Sepp Blatter prompts questions about the role money will play in the future.[12] Qatar was relatively successful in their efforts to shift the narrative as the tournament went off with very few issues and saw global football icon Lionel Messi win his first ever World Cup.[13]

Recently, a new wave of sports washing accusations surrounded the world of football regarding another Middle Eastern nation, Saudi Arabia. Recently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was chosen to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup following an uncontested bid.[14] In another World Cup bidding process marred with allegations of foul play and corruption, Saudi Arabia was awarded the sole rights to host the world’s greatest tournament with the full backing of FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino.[15] Part of these corruption allegations arose from the process that took place as Mr. Infantino discussed the tournament with Saudi Arabian officials prior to the bidding process.[16] The process itself was expedited, which surprised a number of FIFA members.[17] This all occurred even before an official vote on the bid was held.[18] This bypassing of FIFA process and apparent favoritism shown by the president of FIFA has led many to question the motives behind the moves and whether this at all relates to the enormous amount of wealth that Saudi Arabia has been spending on sports.[19]

Sports washing. Image courtesy of UCSD Guardian.

Saudi Arabia’s goals are much bigger than just hosting the World Cup. They want to create a sporting enterprise that rivals that of Western nations.[20] This is shown by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s efforts to give sports a prominent role in shaping a new image of the nation.[21] This plan has involved numerous actions, such as revitalizing the Saudi Arabian domestic football league by bringing in some of the world’s most famous football stars including Sadio Mane, Karim Benzema, Neymar Jr., N’Golo Kante, and Cristiano Ronaldo.[22] They have achieved this by spending an exorbitant amount of money to convince these players to leave Europe.[23] Saudi Arabia has also purchased the Premier League club Newcastle United within the past year, as well.[24] However, this plan has not just involved the world of football as Saudi Arabia has also heavily invested in boxing, Formula 1 auto races, and, more controversially, the LIV Golf tour.[25]

The push back surrounding Saudi Arabia’s growing involvement in the world of sports relates to a number of different controversies.[26] One of the biggest surrounds the death of Arab American journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi Arabian government and the crown prince, himself, have been accused of murdering the journalist for his outspoken criticism of the country’s practices.[27] Additionally, the sheer amount of money Saudi Arabia is investing is drawing criticism because some question whether the money devalues sporting heritage and will hurt the games in the long term.[28] Cristiano Ronaldo’s deal to bring him to the Saudi Arabian league was valued at around 200 million dollars a year, and the country’s pitch to bring Lionel Messi into the league was rumored to be valued at around 500 million dollars a year.[29] This money would effectively rule out many countries, let alone sports leagues, from affording global super stars to play in their country. While these controversies surrounding Saudi Arabia certainly exist, the established sports world is not without criticism, and many see this as a way to preserve the status quo. Time will tell whether the growing involvement of Saudi Arabia in the world of sports will be positive or negative, but Saudi Arabia is certainly here to stay.

[1] Owen Gibson, World Cup 2010: South Africa Leaves a World Cup legacy to remember, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2010/jul/12/south-africa-world-cup-2010 (Jul. 12, 2010).

[2] Id.

[3] Jere Longman, Russia and Qatar Win World Cup Bids, N.Y. Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/sports/soccer/03worldcup.html (Dec. 2, 2010).

[4] Kyle Fruh, Alfred Archer, & Jake Wojtowicz, 17 Sportswashing: Complicity and Corruption, Sports, Ethics and Philosophy 101, 102 (2023).

[5] Id.

[6] Id. at 103.

[7] Id.

[8] Howard Berkes, Nazi Olympics Tangled Politics and Sport, NPR (June 7, 2008 12:01 AM) https://www.npr.org/2008/06/07/91246674/nazi-olympics-tangled-politics-and-sport.

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Supra note 4 at 101.

[12] Id.

[13] Martyn Herman, Whatever the ending, Qatar World Cup duly delivered, Reuters (Dec. 17, 2022, 4:10 AM) https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/review-soccer-whatever-ending-qatar-world-cup-duly-delivered-2022-12-17/.

[14] Tariq Panja, Inside Man: How FIFA Guided the World Cup to Saudi Arabia, N.Y. Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/15/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-fifa-world-cup.html (Nov. 15, 2023).

[15] Id.

[16] Id.

[17] Id.

[18] Id.

[19] Id.

[20] Id.

[21] Id.

[22] Id.

[23] Id.

[24] Id.

[25] Id.

[26] Eddie Pells, In 2023, The Saudis dove further into sports. They are expected to keep it up in 2024, AP (Dec. 19, 2023, 12:01 AM) https://apnews.com/article/liv-saudis-golf-sportswashing-063c639305121c034b8dceaab24f26b3.

[27] Id.

[28] Id.

[29] Id.