Saudi Arabia is regularly criticised by human rights groups for its detention and torture of political opponents and for its intervention in the military conflict in Yemen, which has led to thousands of civilian deaths. The murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 also led to worldwide outrage.
However, the Saudi authorities have been pushing to host prominent international events in an attempt to whitewash the Saudi poor human rights record.
Well-informed sources recently confirmed that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS) would buy the World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., for $9 billion.
In 2018, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Sport Authority (GSA), Turki al-Sheikh, signed an exclusive 10-year contract with the WWE to hold wrestling competitions in the kingdom, propped up by billion-dollar TV deals.
In the last six years, there have also been increases in numbers of executions of children, women and foreign nationals, as well as mass executions and executions for non-lethal offences. The rate of executions carried out by Saudi Arabia has almost doubled under the rule of the de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, with more than 1,000 executions were carried out since becoming in office. 147 people were executed last year, including 81 executions in a single day last March it said were for terrorism-related offences.
Under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is rolling out ever more entertainment and sporting events, an apparent attempt to “sportswash” away its abusive rights reputation using large-scale events, with highly controlled environments, to show a progressive face of the kingdom.
Last year, Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk have had their rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at the King Abdullah Sports City indoor arena.
The country reportedly forked out between $80-150 million dollars to be offered as the fight purse, a tantalizing amount that would attract any event organizer, or almost any athlete for that matter.
The country reportedly forked out between $80-150 million dollars to be offered as the fight purse, a tantalizing amount that would attract any event organizer, or almost any athlete for that matter.
Their rematch, called Rage on the Red Sea, came only a day after the United Nations called for the immediate and unconditional release of the Saudi student and feminist activist, Salma Al-Shehab, who was given a 34-year prison sentence over online posts.
In 2019, Saudi Arabia hosted the world heavyweight title rematch between Britain’s Anthony Joshua and champion Andy Ruiz Jr of the United States.
The oil-rich nation has spent approximately $2.2 billion since 2017 aiming to rebrand itself as the Middle East’s newest sports and tourism hub—an effort known as Vision 2030 that is receiving harsh scrutiny from human-rights advocates and forcing some in the sports world to make hard choices.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf investments has secured additional funding with $2 billion backing up its plans to become a full breakaway super league from 2024.
The country further spent about $900 million to secure 10-year hosting rights for Formula 1.
Saudi Arabia also spent at least $1.5bn on high-profile international sporting events in a bid to bolster its reputation, a new report reveals.
The oil-rich nation has invested millions across the sporting world, the report by the human rights organisation Grant Liberty says, from chess championships to golf, tennis and $60m alone on the Saudi Cup, the world’s richest horse-racing event with prize money of $20m.
