Sportswashing: How Saudi Money 'Neutralised' Dissent at Newcastle United
Sportswashing: How Saudi Money 'Neutralised' Dissent at Newcastle United
The Byline Times Podcast reveals how the Saudi regime bought off criticism of its human rights abuses
As Newcastle United prepare to challenge for their first major domestic trophy in 68 years, a supporter campaigning against the club’s Saudi Arabian ownership says “sportwashing has won” because prominent figures at the club won’t speak out against the oil state’s human rights abuses.
Lifelong supporter John Hird set up the “No Saudi Toon” group to protest against Newcastle’s purchase by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2021 and recently delivered a letter to the club on behalf of Ahmad al-Rabea, whose activist brother Hassan faces possible execution after being extradited from Morocco.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other campaigners have spoken out against the repressive Saudi regime and Hird called on manager Eddie Howe to join the chorus of condemnation.
“Eddie Howe said when he became the manager, that he didn't have enough knowledge. He said ‘I like to read The Times, I like to read The Guardian. I'll read up on it.’
“18 months later, he’s taken the team twice to Saudi Arabia. Has he not read up enough now to say something?
“All he needs to say is, ‘I personally am against the gross human rights abuses, and I support the right to freedom of speech, I support the right for women to criticise the regime [and for] women to fight for their rights. Why would that be such a bad thing?
“If he doesn't say anything, that means sportswashing has won.”
Howe has, of course, remained silent, like most of Tyneside, which is revelling in Newcastle’s Saudi funded transformation from perennial also-rans into Champions League contenders.
The PIF represents the oil state’s attempt to consolidate its wealth beyond the fossil fuel era, and its chairman is Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) – said by the CIA to have commissioned the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in his nation’s Turkish Embassy.
Premier League bosses were soothed by “legally binding assurances” that the government in Riyadh would not control Newcastle, but the club’s appearance in a Wembley Final tallies with “Vision 2030” – a strategy to diversify the Saudi economy launched by MBS himself.
Newcastle will line up at Wembley in the Carabao Cup Final on Sunday against Manchester United, who are also attracting interest from Middle Eastern backers with a questionable human rights record – in their case, Qatar.
For Hird, a Newcastle victory would be tainted by Saudi’s grim human rights record which includes the imprisonment of political dissenters, suppression of women’s rights, unfair trials and the criminalisation of the LGBT community.
Then there’s the death penalty, which has been carried out more than 100 times in Saudi Arabia since the club was taken over.
Although Hird opposes all governmental ownership of football clubs, he acknowledges that “the repression by the Saudi state is on another level”. And he warns that the club’s success has successfully “neutralised” those who would normally condemn a murderous regime.
“They have managed to get on board a layer of fans who will defend the Saudi state, and that's unacceptable. It's been people who should know better - the ones who run the fanzines, fans’ groups, but also political representatives…some of them are Labour MPs who are season ticket holders and have said nothing.
“They've managed to normalise it.”
You can listen to the full interview here in an exclusive preview of the Byline Times podcast
Thanks for such a considered reply Mervyn. As a football fan I totally understand these deep connections that outlive any particular owner of a football club and the questions of identity it raises.
I should say that every Newcastle based organisation mentioned on the podcast - inclduing NUFC, the Supporters Trust, and Wor Flags - was contacted but none has responded.
I support NUFC. My father (born in 1916 and now gone) supported them. He told me of watching Jackie Milburn play. Seeing him holding his boots and getting on the bus with the fans to St James’ on matchday.
I was / am against the Saudi purchase of the club though I still do support them now. I tried not to but I have two boys and I want them to experience what I feel…..the connection with my father. A connection I will take throughout my life. There’s other things of course, but NUFC also connects me to our home city and our lives there.
When the takeover happened I saw fans saying all sorts of things about the deal. A lot of ‘whataboutary’ of course, which I saw as being based on a lifetime of underachievement and poor management. Sadly Ashley made many desperate and almost any potential purchaser would have been made welcome. The fact that it turned out to be the Saudi sovereign fund gave many (including the FA) an opportunity to parse the moral question.
My comment on the article is this. I agree with its drift but for balance it should have mentioned the many supporters who have openly criticised the Saudi regime. The supporters associations who have done so. The fans commenting on match reports etc.
I cannot stop supporting the club….it is more than the ownership. I am deeply conscious however of the unpleasant role it now plays with regard whitewashing the Saudi regime. I am hopeful that it may over time be a force for good in the country but I am also concerned when, as night follows day, the regime does something that will cause people to hate the club and in turn, the city. And…more sadly, that it will taint my memories.