The Great Distraction: Making Sense of Saudi Arabia’sShopping Spree in the Sport Aisle

By Sports Editor Jack Kelly

Beloved TV presenter and former sport journalist Sir Michael Parkinson passed away on the 17 August 2023 aged 88. Following his death, a litany of quotes and snippets from interviews he conducted throughout his career began to emerge across social media. But there was one quote in particular that stood out mainly due to how it, unfortunately, demonstrates the ever-changing sporting landscape. The line comes from when the Second Captains podcast spoke to Parkinson in 2014 and he stated that sport “is not war, or death, or famine – it’s not that at all. It’s the opposite of that. It’s to persuade us of a life outside of that… that’s why sport’s important.” Sadly, sport no longer provides the escapism from the outside world that it once did. A lot has changed since Boris Johnson lobbied the Premier League to allow Saudi Arabia takeover of Newcastle United in 2020. 

Granted, the intersection between sport and troubling politics has been crossed dozens of times in the last hundred years. The 1936 Olympics were held in Nazi Germany, the iconic “Rumble in the Jungle” fight between Muhammed Ali and George Foreman in 1974 that took place in Zaire was hosted by the dictator Mobuto Sese Soko to generate positivity for the state. Similarly, the 1978 World Cup was held in Argentina who were under the leadership of the dictator Jorge Rafael Videla. But it must be said that sports being used as a soft power tool has reached a new level in recent times when one considers the enormous investments made by Saudi Arabia in the last two years - even considering the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar.  

A report by The Guardian indicates that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) spent $1.5 billion in sport between 2014 and early 2021. But the venture into sport has drastically intensified and this is evidenced by a report finding that the PIF had spent at least £6 billion in sport since early 2021. Saudi Arabia has staged Formula One Grands Prix and world championship title fights, it set up the LIV golf tour at a cost of $2 billion according to CNN, is planning a $500m “esports city” and bought Newcastle United. It will try to host the 2030 World Cup, but earlier this year the PIF bought the four most renowned teams in the Saudi league — Al Nassr (which had already signed Cristiano Ronaldo), Al Hilal, Al Ahli and Al Ittihad.

This is all taking place against the backdrop of Vision 2030, the Saudi’s $7 trillion drive to diversify the economy away from oil.  The PIF has invested in areas such as art (most notably paying $450 million for a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci in 2017), it has invested up to $8 billion in gaming. Likewise, the PIF has shares in companies such as Ticketmaster, Uber, Boeing, and Disney amongst others. You can read more about this initiative to build a “more sustainable economy” on the Vision 2030 website, however some of the investments have not been publicly disclosed. For example, The Washington Post reported that it had invested $2 billion into a private equity firm created by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, in 2021. However, beyond supposed economic reasons because like Abramovich’s purchase of Chelsea, which was allegedly instigated by Vladimir Putin, the sporting investments are not intended to be financially rewarding, so why has the PIF accelerated its pursuit of the world’s greatest sporting figures and events in recent times? 

An argument posited by Samer Al-Atrush, the Financial Times Saudi correspondent, is that Mohammed Bin Salan (MBS), the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, has directed investments into the entertainment industry to garner domestic support from Saudi Arabia’s relatively young population (only 2.8% of the population is over 65 years old while 67% of the population is under 35). Al-Atrush stated “His (MBS) support base, that he counts on, is Saudi youths. He has taken on a lot of populist tactics, one of which is to give Saudi youths what they want.” Put simply, as MBS is only 37 and seeing as he plans on being in charge for decades to come, it is wise to have widespread public support, even in an autocracy. 

But it must be argued that this venture into sport is not solely to secure domestic support and is primarily an effort to varnish Saudi Arabia’s image abroad, thus making it integral to Saudi foreign policy. As a system it is rather simplistic albeit expensive, the sporting investments sanitise the perception of Saudi Arabia which, as a result, makes it easier for major companies to trade there. In sum, the Saudi’s plan to diversify their economy is better off if the external image of the country is Newcastle United, an exciting domestic league and Formula One, rather than the dismemberment of Jamal Khasgoggi, a Saudi journalist, or mass executions (at least 1,390 between 2010 and 2022 with 81 people killed in a single day in 2022 according to Reprieve). 

In addition, the Saudi backed war in Yemen has left the country experiencing the world's worst humanitarian crisis according to the UN. It says 4.5 million people, one in seven of the population, have been displaced while 24.1 million people, 80% of the population, are in need of humanitarian aid and protection. The UN says that tens of thousands of people in Yemen are currently living in famine-like conditions. Similarly, Saudi border guards have been accused of using arms to kill hundreds of Ethiopians crossing into Saudi Arabia from Yemen. What’s more, a Saudi man was recently sentenced to death because of his Twitter and YouTube activity. But ignore that, Newcastle United are in the Champions League “Howay the lads”. 

Therefore, it can be said that the Saudi’s expansion into the world of sport accomplishes both of its objectives: it builds support domestically while cleansing its image internationally. But, with the Saudi’s abhorrent human rights record being common knowledge, attempts at sportswashing (the act of sponsoring a sports team or event in order to distract from bad practices elsewhere) should be outdated, so how can the western world still be tricked into supporting MBS and his draconian regime? 

To put it bluntly, the answer is abundantly clear that sportswashing is “tricking” nobody. Take the recent weaponisation of the Saudi pro league and the flood of players from Europe’s top clubs to the Gulf state. More specifically, take the example of former Liverpool Captain Jordan Henderson, who had been a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and the rainbow laces campaign before taking the cash and moving to Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia where homosexuality is still illegal. The Saudi’s endless resources and willingness to offer astronomical sums of money to sportspeople combine to give sporting icons a dilemma: take the money and effectively promote an autocratic state or continue to play at a higher level and still earn millions of pounds a year. Let’s be clear, this money is not life changing for millionaire footballers; accepting it is just indicative of the greed, hypocrisy and unscrupulous culture embedded in the modern sporting landscape. 

But what is next for sport? There are signs that the PIF are intent on expanding into the lucrative US sports market with the Saudi’s paying consulting firms to lobby sports bodies and commissioners in the US. The MLB and the NBA are the most likely targets due to their soft salary cap (teams that go over the cap face minor penalties) which would allow Saudi to pay enormous sums to attract top players, essentially making it easier to buy success- just look at how Newcastle United have skyrocketed up the Premier League table since the takeover. However, the NFL has a hard salary cap to ensure a level playing field hence making it a less attractive target for the PIF. (Cue: a sigh of relief) 

Depressingly, Michael Parkinson’s purist proclamation about sport could not be more wrong when considered against the modern sporting context. It is inextricably linked to all of those things. As, particularly in the time since Parkinson’s statement, politics keeps on finding a way to intrude on the escapism of sport. Ultimately, the Saudi’s trolley dash across sport is nauseating, but it must be spoken about. Contrary to what Newcastle United Manager Eddie Howe says, we must not “just stick to football.”