Issue 66: Playing Ball
Gulf states are betting that engagement in the sport industry will help their global image
Busy times in the sporting world.
On June 6, the PGA agreed to merge with Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf in a deal that would end the year long legal dispute between the parties.
On June 8, French and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema signed a three-year deal with Saudi Arabian team Al-Ittihad.
The Kingdom nearly pulled off a hat-trick if it wasn’t for Lionel Messi’s unexpected decision to spur advances by Al-Hilal and opt to join Inter Miami instead. But between the PGA-LIV merger, Benzema’s signing, and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia captured most of the week’s headlines.
This isn’t coincidence. Despite experiencing rocky relations with the US and other Western states since the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, the energy crisis and looming threat of global recession has compelled the Biden administration to reconsider its attitude towards Saudi Arabia. This started with Biden’s visit in August 2022 and has continued - sometimes publicly but more often behind closed door. Blinken’s visit coincided with a recent announcement by Saudi Arabia to sharply reduce oil production.
What does this have to do with sports? Because while tough negotiations are being addressed through international diplomacy, Saudi Arabia is using its enormous financial reserves to increase its soft power status amongst Western audience through the sport industry. LIV golf and Benzema are just pieces to a bigger puzzle that include megastar Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to play for Al Nassr, the acquisition of English Premier league club Newcastle United by a Saudi-led consortium, the establishment of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021, and much more.
In each of these cases, questions were raised - both by journalists, politicians, and athletes - about whether cooperation with Saudi Arabia effectively whitewashed the kingdom’s human rights record. But ultimately money talks, and Saudi Arabian investments is ultimately accepted if only for lack of alternatives.
Saudi Arabia isn’t alone in adopting this strategy. Gulf state investment in global soccer is well recorded, highlighted in particular by Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup. It fits a broader soft power strategy by the Gulf states while also serving a domestic need to diversify their economies and financial structure as the era of fossil fuels gradually comes to an end.
Sports has always been a welcome space for morally questionable characters. But one has to wonder what the consequences of these mergers and takeovers will be and if Western governments will continued to critique Gulf state behavior down the road. In sharp contrast to unsavory owners whose decisions may impact hundreds or thousands of individuals, the scope of Saudi influence is much greater and the political cost of cooperation much steeper.
Here are some reads on the subject that I thought were interesting:
Start with this win-win argument by Fahad Nazer, the Official Spokesperson for the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Washington.
Then continue to Andrew England and Murad Ahmed’s 2019 Financial Times piece, “Why Gulf states are betting on sport”.
I also recommend Eman Alhussein’s analysis for The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington that contextualizes Gulf investment in sports as a way to tackle their internal quarrels.
I hope you find this edition’s content engaging. Please feel free share this newsletter with others.
-Gabi