From sports transformation to sportswashing stereotype in Saudi Arabia: focus on lessons for African development
Abstract
Sports in recent times is nolonger a source of entertainment and social peace but it has grown into a strong driver of international labour migration, tourism and economic transformation. Recently, many countries of the globe have been making efforts to transform their economy through practical investments in the area of sports. This study focuses on the outstanding transformations that have been championed by the Saudi Government in the area of sports investments, which a number of analysists have stereotyped as sportswashing. The study used secondary literature to develop its content and presented its findings on how sports have locally and internationally advanced the national and international image of Saudi Arabia thematically. It recommends that African countries must follow suit in the quest to transform her mineral resource based economy through sports in line with the sports wonders going on in the Kingdom.
References
-Amnesty International. Saudi Arabia 2022. https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/saudi-arabia/report-saudi-arabia/
-Ani, K.J. ; Anyanwu T.C. Football, Racism and Peacebuilding in Colonial Nigeria. Revista Brasileira de Futsal e Futebol. São Paulo. Vol. 15. Num. 62. 2023a. p. 189-199.
-Ani, K.J.; Anyanwu, T.C. Russo-Ukrainian Wars of 2022 and Nigerian Footballers in the Region, Revista Brasileira de Futsal e Futebol. São Paulo. Vol. 15. Num. 62. 2023b. p. 200-211
-CBS NEWS. Saudi Arabia shelling out on sports, athletes amid accusations of sportwashing. 2023. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/saudi-arabia-sportswashing-accusations-60-minutes-transcript-2023-04-09/
-CFR. Saudi Arabia's Investments Raise Questions of 'Sportswashing'. 2023. https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/saudi-arabias-investments-raise-questions-sportswashing
-DAWN. Sportwashing Is Just One Part of Saudi Arabia's Vast Foreign Influence Campaign. 2023. https://dawnmena.org/sportswashing-is-just-one-part-of-saudi-arabias-vast-foreign-influence-campaign/
-Human Rights Watch. Saudi Arabia: Important Advances for Saudi Women. 2019. https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/08/02/saudi-arabia-important-advances-saudi-women
-Human Rights Watch. Saudi Arabia: Proposed Reforms Neglect Basic Rights. 2021. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/25/saudi-arabia-proposed-reforms-neglect-basic-rightsThe
-Human Rights Watch. Saudi Arabia Events of 2021. 2022. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/saudi-arabia
-The Conversation. Is Saudi Arabia Using 'sportswashing' to simply hide its human rights abuses - or is there a bigger strategy at play?. 2023. https://theconversation.com/is-saudi-arabia-using-sportswashing-to-simply-hide-its-human-rights-abuses-or-is-there-a-bigger-strategy-at-play-208468
-The Guardian. US finds Saudi crown prince approved Khashoggi murder but does not sanction him. 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/26/jamal-khashoggi-mohammed-bin-salman-us-report
-U.S. Department of State. 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Saudi Arabia. 2021. https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/saudi-arabia/
-U.S. Department of State. 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Saudi Arabia. 2022. https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/saudi-arabia/
-United Nations. UN rights chief decries mass execution of 81 people in Saudi Arabia. 2022. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1113922
-United Nations. Human rights experts alarmed over 'imminent executions' in Saudi Arabia. 2023. https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136322
-United Nations. Human Rights. 2023. https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/human-rights
Copyright (c) 2024 Kelechi Johnmary Ani, John Chimezie Onu, Timothy Chibuike Anyanwu
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, with work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License BY-NC which allows the sharing of the work with acknowledgment of the authorship of the work and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are authorized to enter into additional contracts separately for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg, publishing in institutional repository or book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are allowed and encouraged to post and distribute their work online (eg, in institutional repositories or on their personal page) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this can bring about productive change as well as increase impact and impact. citation of published work (See The Effect of Free Access).