Bloody hell.
@adexkola
This is exactly the sort of sports washing discussed before. Fans being weaponised online to defend indefensible behaviour by nation states. Prior to all of this, could you imagine any football fan
ever wading into a football forum discussion to try and justify the death sentence for a young woman who was caught doing coke?
First and foremost I want to state my opposition to the death penalty, because any mistake made is, well, irreversible. Plus it's applied disproportionately towards the poor, historically oppressed parts of society
So here's the issue I have with the term sportswashing, as applied towards Qatar and Abu Dhabi and the Saudis
1. The idea that a football club would be bought so their supporters would defend the owners in online debates. At face value that is still one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. And it literally has nil impact in the real world.
2. Buying positive exposure: in retrospect buying City and Chelsea and Newcastle has brought more negative attention on the buyers. I don't think Yemen would be mentioned outside of the Current Events forum apart from a stick used to (deservedly) bash the Sauds' takeover of Newcastle
3. Buying an entrance/acceptance into the UK: the UK government through relations with the Middle East and Russia has already legitimized these actors. The UK sells weapons to these countries, buys their oil, holidays in these countries, welcomes their citizens to shop in Harrods and buy flats in Kensington... Yet buying a sports club is supposed to legitimize these actors in a way the aforementioned stuff doesn't?
Defending the death penalty on a football forum: I've seen it done before for heinous offenses committed. The US alone loves it's executions and has a lot of backers. So while I disagree with the death penalty, I wouldn't put it's defense down to sportswashing.
One more point for the "sportswashing is a term too ambiguous to have any serious meaning", for years I've seen the US military flood sports events with advertising of it's cool toys and troops to recruit young men. Similarly the nauseating patriotic displays of the anthem and pledge before every game (see the reaction against Colin Kaepernick for kneeling)... If ever sportswashing could apply to a situation... I've never heard of the term applied here. It only seems to be applied towards Middle Eastern countries and Russian oligarchs. I'll stop on that train of thought before someone accuses me of whataboutery (another awesome term)...