It is difficult to contemplate the global sports scene without coming across Saudi Arabia. The petrotrillionaires harass us, like a virus aspiring to pandemic. The question is whether it will be slowed down, like the corona, or whether the sheikvirus will eat the world.
We have Formula 1, just celebrated in Jiddah; the Asian Winter Games, agreed for 2029; the stated desire to hold the men’s World Cup in 2030; the Spanish Super Cup, of course; the LIV, the richest golf championship there is; the plan to sponsor the Women’s World Cup this year; the signing of Cristiano, and the possible signing of Messi, by Saudi clubs; and now, oysters, it is being proposed as a candidate to buy Manchester United, surely the team with the most fans on Earth.
They are already the owners of Newcastle United, so we are presented with the possibility, one day not too far away, of witnessing what we would call “the Saudi derby” of the north of England in the Premier League. Let’s see if one of these days they buy Barça, maybe at a discounted price in the Second Division.
The cliché is that the Saudis are appropriating world sport in order to wash their image. Sportswashing, they call it, in English. But perhaps the goal is both simpler and more sinister. Simple in the sense that it largely obeys the eternal impulses of greed and vanity. We already have the Rolls-Royces, the superyachts, the palaces. What do we have left? Ah yes: the entities that draw the most emotions on all continents, the great players and the great football clubs.
The most sinister aspect is nothing less than resorting to sport as another element in the tectonic movement detected in the world in favor of autocracies, against the Western democratic bloc. China is the giant in this dispute and there we see it, allying with Russia, colonizing half of Africa, with agreements that have resulted in an unexpected understanding between those old enemies, Iran and Saudi Arabia. India has until today been the largest democracy on the planet, but it shows signs that it is heading towards authoritarianism.
And meanwhile, there is the United States, divided in two, with a former and possibly future president who aspires to be Kim Jong-un when he grows up, and who goes with his friend Putin to the war in Ukraine; there’s the fallen British Empire, self-devouring with its Brexit, consumed by matters as momentous as whether or not to allow ex-footballer Gary Lineker to say whatever he wants on Twitter, while they sell their jewelery at the best bidder; there is Latin America, with its strong men in power; there is Italy, in the hands of the extreme right; there is Spain, which is not clear if yes is yes or if no is no.
The idea assumes that we in the West are in charge, that we are the axis around which the Earth orbits, that there will be dire consequences if they fail to make us forget that we are against, for example, the mass execution of opponents politicians
Well no There are reasons to think that it will rather be the other way around. It will be under Saudi control of international sport and we will have to convince them to let us play. Equality for women? Gay marriage? The right to legally change sex? You are degenerates. You are going against the rules of God and nature. Either we see changes, or you convince us that you will restore decency, or you give signals that you will restore what we consider to be human rights, or we will impose boycotts.
Yes, boycotts. We to you braggarts. If you don’t wash your face, we will mobilize our Chinese, Russian, Iranian, Hindu and North Korean friends to deny you the possibility of holding World Cups and Olympics in your countries. We may even block you from participating in major sporting events.
Or even (let’s not rule anything out), it may be that the Saudis and their friends in golf end up replacing the Champions League with a Super League composed only of clubs they themselves have acquired. There is a lot at stake. It all depends on whether we let ourselves be bought. The signs are not encouraging.
