GARY RYNHART: Sportswashing goes mainstream

Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing for Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr in December for a total remuneration of $210m (R3.7bn) a year (including commercial agreements) is believed to be the highest salary paid to a professional footballer.

Off the field, other prominent footballers and former footballers are also earning considerable sums in the Gulf states. Argentina World Cup winning captain Lionel Messi earns a reputed $30m (R500m) a year to promote Saudi tourism. David Beckham signed a $277m deal with Qatar to serve as an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, owns Newcastle United Football Club, while French club PSG is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority. Several other major football clubs are rumoured to be in the crosshairs of wealthy Gulf state backers.

The reason for the interest is not hard to find. Football includes probably the biggest global brands. The much criticised World Cup in Qatar was mired in controversy from the start, with allegations of corruption (nothing new there), deaths of migrant workers and the wider suppression of human rights. Yet Qatar emerged as the host of one of the best football tournaments. Ultimately the football takes over. That is the reason Saudi Arabia is rumoured to be pitching a bid for the 2030 World Cup.

Another key legacy of the World Cup in Qatar is that the term “sportswashing” is now rooted in the mainstream vernacular. This phenomenon, particularly its use as political cover, is not new. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini used the 1934 World Cup in Italy to great affect, inspiring Adolf Hitler to pursue the same objective. Germany hosted the 1936 Olympic Games.  

The rationale for awarding major sporting events to countries with dubious human rights records or authoritarian regimes is that it can lead to improved behaviours. The behaviours of some recent hosts of Olympic Games and other major events do not support this argument. To be fair though, Qatar did engage with the International Labour Organisation and introduce improvements to its labour laws.

A big issue is the processes by which these events are awarded, often by opaque and non-transparent sporting administrative bodies. Fifa, the body that oversees world football, comprises associations that each have a single vote. Brazil and Eswatini have equal voting powers, for example. Some national associations may have robust structures and transparency, but many — maybe most — do not. It is not hard to see how this can translate into promoting the best interests of vested groups rather that the sports they represent and are mandated to promote.

Fifa seems especially tone deaf. Its current boss said he understands discrimination and racism because he had red hair at school. His predecessor said female footballers should play in tighter shorts, while his advice to gay people travelling to the Qatar World Cup was to avoid sexual relations. You could not make this stuff up.

Sport is a great leveller in societies, played and enjoyed in multibillion-rand stadiums but equally in small rural villages across the world. It is not surprising then that politics and money remain firmly within its orbit. There is probably little that can be done to stop “sportswashing”, but there are ways to exert pressure.

Increased transparency, such as external auditing and oversight, of the organisations that award the hosting of these tournaments can be sought. There should be an insistence on basic values and human rights by potential hosts. Concrete oversight, monitoring and reporting of worker and human rights should be built into the terms of reference for major future sporting events.

Equally, support for sports people who stand up for a values-based approach is needed. Last December it was announced that Formula One (F1) drivers will now have to seek permission from the sport’s governing body, the International Automobile Federation, to make “political statements” in the 2023 season.

In part this move was driven by drivers like Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time F1 champion, who has raised awareness for causes such as Black Lives Matter and LGBTQi. Rory McIlroy has led criticism of the LIV Golf circuit, which is funded by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

Greater scrutiny of who funds and sponsors sporting events is needed. These strategies can be effective. For example, under pressure, Tennis Australia ditched oil and gas company Santos as a partner from this year’s Open.

The Olympics will be hosted in Paris next year and already there are calls for a boycott. Expect these debates to run.

• Rynhart is senior specialist in employers’ activities with the ILO, based in SA.