Saudi Arabia’s Rise in Sports
It is intriguing to analyse how Saudi Arabia, a country known for bearing a rigorous and ruthless facade for human rights, is actively seeking to transform that image into a more inclusive and affable nation through wielding the concept of Sportswashing.
The nation is investing heavily into Sports industry, hosting sporting events and acquiring internationally famed players in their teams. This strategy can be seen manifested in several recent headlines where the country is aggressively battling to be a key player in the sports sector, making it a soft power to foster better lifestyle for citizens after an era of human rights violation.
With a more than £300 million involved in sealing the deal of a Premier Football Club, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia took over the agency for Newcastle United. Moreover, it is also hosting the coveted Formula One racing event as well as deemed tournaments of Golf.
Hospitable Hosts: Saudi Shines in Golf, Racing & Football
In 2023, Saudi Arabia backed LIV golf circuit, funded by PIF, concluded a two-year long ongoing conflict with PGA Tour, which hosts the most prominent tournaments in golf. The news of PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LIV circuit working in harmony as a unified umbrella for players shocked the golf industry.
Jay Monahan, PGA Tour Commissioner admits to have realised that the organisations work better together, thus ending the rivalry strife and joining forces.
Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia is also making a buzz by putting thumping figures to woo western idols to join the Saudi Pro football league, a recent addition being the prestigious Christiano Ronaldo in Al Nassr in December 2022.
Karim Benzema, who played forward for Real Madrid also was roped into Saudi’s Al Ittihad football club on a three-year contract.
January also saw Barcelona’s Messi playing a friendly match against Brazil on the Arabian ground. It was an impressive feat for the nation to host the esteemed footballer, who again emerged in the Spanish Super Cup in Riyadh.
Although the country hasn’t bid to host the 2030 Football World Cup, the appeal is expected to come soon.
The country also made the news for enlisting as a potential sponsorer for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, after dissents from the hosts- Australia and New Zealand led to it’s withdrawal.
Messi: The Tourism Ambassador
Not long back, the country again become the talk of the town when it featured the legendary footballer – Lionel Messi as its tourism ambassador and posted a clip on X where the star sports player is seen kicking a football, shattering myths about the ‘patriarchal’ country and promoting the tourism with open arms.
The PIF, scouting for arenas to invest in and spread its reach to build a woke, agile and bustling sphere was also rumoured to buy World Wrestling Entertainment Inc (WWE) in 2023 and lay foundations in the entertainment sector as well.
Saudi Arabia has kept its horizons limitless and is zealously implementing sportswashing to refurbish the stereotyped image of the country. Esports has also been conquered by the Middle eastern country as it hosted the world’s mega-gaming event in Riyadh – Gamers8 in July 2023.
Saudi has also opened doors to explore and include US National Basketball Association’s players into its home League – Saudi Basketball League in the future.
Tournaments, Events, Races & Games Galore!
A latest event held in Saudi Arabia was the much hyped – Dakar Rally. The multi-billion motor racing rally was successfully and adventurously enjoyed in January.
Rewinding back, the sports arena was initially teased by the nation when it hosted a boxing rematch between heavyweights – Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz along with Formula E motor race.
Riyadh was also home to hosting Diriyah Tennis Club games in 2022 and the World Snooker Championships in July 2023, organised by the Saudi Billiards and Snooker Federation.
The PIF, in latest acquisition, won substantial stakes in the American mixed-material arts league, the Professional Fighters League.
In 2021, the Kingdom has made an entry in the Formula One Racing competition by launching The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, which had its races in 2023 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
The inauguration of SRJ Sports Investments, a multi-dollar sports firm has reaffirmed the sportswashing tactics of the nation.
It also aims to splash in the Cricket business owing to the South-Asian inhabitants living there. It has plans to launch a replica of IPL to extend reach and engagement.
Modernising the nation and celebrating humanities in the form of art, sports, music, cinema etc and bringing together people in a shared communion, Saudi Arabia is slowly shedding its orthodox facade by also popularising events like Women’s wrestling and shattering the chauvinistic front.
Saudi is attracting global eyeballs through its local matches as well. The Saudi Arabian Handball Federation organised match when the Al-Ahli womens’ team clashed with Al-Nahda, giving a wondrous spectacle of determination and athleticism.
Saudi’s Sportswashing Scheme?
The ‘sportswashing’ strategy of Saudi to wipe away the history of suppression and violation of humanity is critically debated. The years of human right infringement which still continues in occasional cases like jailing Salma al-Shehab for 34 years just because she supported activists and dissidents.
Saudi has also decapacitated 81 people in a single day in a mass elimination of delinquents who were mere Shia minorities voicing out in anti-government rallies in 2011-12. The nation has been liberally executing criminals, diluting the value of life. 
Saudi has also been tarnished for viciously assassinating Journalist, Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in a military stride.
The women in Arabia have been living under the man’s shadow since aeons and have quite recently ‘allowed’ the right to drive. They are recurrently assaulted and tortured.
Despite these horrendous happenings added with rigged media and censored speech, Saudi is magnetising sports aficionados with the lure of attractive, unimaginable monetary offers, which rarely anyone can refuse.
Shedding the Jihadist Image or Economical Diversification?
With its investment in the sports industry, the country is looking towards reigning with soft power and discreetly but strongly influencing the global setting.
Every action is a result of thoughts and motives. Saudi’s bustling development can also be viewed as a manifestation of ulterior motives.
One of the major aims of the country was to economically diversify. Included in its Vision 2030 plan, it seeks to expand its reach and transcend beyond the usual oil trade. One of the major factors is to go by the proverb of keeping your eggs in different baskets since EV’s will soon reign over the global car production, rendering oil out of business.
The youth make up almost 70% of Saudi’s citizens. To ensure their holistic well-being, spread their budgets in plethora of ventures and exploit the potentially growing industry of sports. As more and more people come to Saudi to play multitudes of sports and spend their pounds, dollars or euros in boosting foreign investments in the nation.
To add to that, Saudi Arabia’s soft power also debuts in fashion, cinema, art and cultural domains with the launch of the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2019, opening doors to egyptian singers, earning UNESCO world heritage badges, premiering at Paris Fashion Week among others.
Backlash, Trolls and Rejection
While the sports stars have been lambasted for being tantalised by Saudi’s bribe, talks have also raised concerns over this strategy putting Saudi in a golden light and hiding the brutal violations happening in its local lanes. The international fame, like a distraction has stolen the camera’s lens towards the glamor, sidelining the short-sighted evils of the nation.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have openly rejected Saudi’s tantalising offers to claim the golf legends in its tournaments owing to ‘morality’ concerns
Although, this move has its own assets as well. It champions giving more rights and opportunities to women, getting more media coverage, entrancing global population in a convivial union and ensuring good infrastructure and events for the masses in a celebration of arts and culture.
