When the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup was awarded to Qatar, it raised a number of moral concerns, perhaps the most prominent of which was Qatar's woeful record on human rights in the arena of migrant ...labour. Qatar's interest in hosting the event is aptly characterised as a case of 'sportswashing'. The first aim of this paper is to provide an account of the nature of sportswashing, as a practice of using an association with sport, usually through hosting an event or owning a club (such as Newcastle United, owned by Saudi Arabia), to subvert the way that others attend to a moral violation for which the sportswashing agent is responsible. This may be done through distracting away from wrongdoing, minimising it, or normalising it. Second, we offer an account of the distinctive wrongs of sportswashing. The gravest moral wrong is the background injustice which sportswashing threatens to perpetuate. But the distinctive wrongs of sportswashing are twofold: first, it makes participants in sport (athletes, coaches, journalists, fans) complicit in the sportswasher's wrongdoing, which extends a moral challenge to millions of people involved with sport. Second, sportswashing corrupts valuable heritage associated with sporting traditions and institutions. Finally, we examine how sportswashing ought to be resisted. The appropriate forms of resistance will depend upon different roles people fill, such as athlete, coach, journalist, fan. The basic dichotomy of resistance strategies is to either exit the condition of complicity, for example by refusing to participate in the sporting event, or to modify one's engagement with the goal of transformation in mind. We recognize this is difficult and potentially burdensome: sports are an important part of many of our lives; our approach attempts to respect this.
Sportswashing is a neologism that has begun to appear with increasing regularity in the English-language media over the past few years. However, there has been limited academic discussion of the term ...and certainly no sustained analysis of what it might or might not offer to sports scholars. This lacuna is particularly curious given the rapid rise in interest in related issues, such as the links between sport and soft power, sporting mega events and place branding and sports diplomacy. Therefore, this paper has three main objectives. First to trace the links between sport and other forms of ‘washing’ (whitewashing, greenwashing etc) and to identify similarities and differences in these approaches. Second, to situate sportswashing within the wider literature on sports and state relations so as to better assess what, if anything, makes it different from cognate terms, including propaganda, public diplomacy, soft power and place branding. Third, to reflect on the utility of the concept, in both analytical and practical terms, in the contemporary era.
The concept of ‘sportswashing’ serves as a short-hand way of criticising non-democratic regimes for using investment in sport, sports clubs, and sports events to detract from illiberal practices in ...their home countries. This article makes a contribution to the extant literature and debates on ‘sportswashing’ in three key ways by (1) showing that, paradoxically, without the encouragement and opportunities afforded by notionally democratic global capitalism and the ‘West’, ‘sportswashing’ strategies would not be available to non-democratic regimes; (2) highlighting the ‘mechanisms’ by which ‘sportswashing’ actually occurs and how it ought to be understood as an initial step on a long-term journey towards ‘soft power’ gains. The article does this by (3) examining two empirical examples of ‘sportswashing’. First, we explore the 2022 Qatar World Cup and the broader international sports investment strategies pursued by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Second, we introduce the WWE partnership with Saudi Arabia to demonstrate that ‘sports washing’ can be rendered bidirectional such that both participants reap a reputational boost, inverting the presumed reputational damage that otherwise constitutes the main disincentive to participation by Western capital. Such a process embeds non-democratic regimes in the sports industry leading to their becoming ‘normalised’ in international business.
The purpose of this article is to provide an understanding of the emergence of LIV Golf, a new tour in the sport of professional golf, funded by finances from the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth, the ...Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Constructed through a range of theoretical concepts and media information, this article explains the concept and format of LIV Golf, traced through the economic structures of professional team sports, the emergence of breakaway competitions and the use of sport to leverage and legitimise what has been termed as a "soft power" approach.
This article explores the wider strategy of the PIF in relation to LIV Golf with consideration of Saudi Arabia's quest for legitimacy on the global sporting stage. We explore how the LIV tour has brought the concept of sportswashing into sharp focus, whilst fracturing men's professional golf and becoming a threat to the dominant PGA Tour. We provide insights into what this might mean for golf and other sports in the future.
This article provides new insight into how a government is using the sports faction of its entity to legitimise itself in a global sport. We also discuss the concept of sportswashing, which has been under researched in academic studies.
In October 2021, the formal launch of LIV Golf took place. Its aim was to provide an alternative competition to the long-established and exclusive enclave of elite professional golf - the ...Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) and European (known as the DP World for sponsorship reasons) Tours. What followed was 20 months of outspoken public wrangling between proponents of LIV's shake-up of the golfing status quo, and defenders of the PGA's assumed sanctity and professional legacy. On 6th June 2023, in an unanticipated and remarkable truce, it was announced that the three organisations were to be united under one umbrella entity. The proposed merger brought disputes between the three parties in courts of law to an abrupt end, but the courts of public opinion remain actively vocal and antagonistic. In this critical commentary, I analyse the events of this short-lived but intense jurisdictional competition from a sociological perspective, and strive to set an agenda for future research into jurisdictional competitions in professional sport. In doing so, I seek to answer three questions: How did LIV seek to legitimise itself as a credible competitor to the PGA? How did the jurisdictional contest end? What are the implications of the proposed merger for the profession and governance of elite competitive golf?
On 7 October 2021, a controversial takeover of the English Premier League team Newcastle United Football Club saw an 80% stake acquired by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), the ...country's sovereign wealth fund. Public discussion and media coverage of the takeover has revolved almost entirely around the concept of 'sportswashing' - the practice of (usually) undemocratic regimes using sporting investments to 'cleanse' or enhance their reputation and deflect attention away from human rights abuses. This article examines the Newcastle takeover, interrogating the widespread portrayal of it as a clear-cut case of sportswashing, and explores alternative explanations for the purchase, and potentially other sports-related investments. Drawing broadly on scholarship by Bourdieu and scholars of the Arabian Peninsula, it argues that the concept of sportswashing as it is currently used limits discussion of wider, more complex social, political and economic entanglements.
Purpose The primary purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the key perspectives that emerge in this Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (AAAJ) Special Issue as a basis for ...determining the existence or otherwise of a Soccer Society, as well as reflecting on the challenges that evidence of corruption in soccer (the beautiful game) has had on the game to date. Reflections on these matters are then utilised to offer a prospective analysis of issues for further research. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a reflective analysis that draws on existing societal work to provide key dimensions of accounting and accountability for significant organisations in the world of sport in general and soccer in particular. Findings Much prior research on soccer has largely focussed on the internal workings of soccer organisations, with little discussion of the importance of context. This paper explores the influence of the game more broadly. Moreover, a number of the papers included illustrate an overwhelming sense of joy and pleasure from experiences of the beautiful game, as well as providing evidence of the general societal good that can flow from it. However, the study also highlights concerns emanating from weak, and seemingly pliable, governance, regulatory and accountability regimes that provide a fertile field for corruption and sportswashing. Research limitations/implications This paper highlights a research agenda as an encouragement to interdisciplinary accounting researchers to investigate accountability and governance issues as a basis for evidence-based discussions of the impact of soccer and its regulation. Originality/value This paper specifically, and the Special Issue more broadly, offers a set of original empirical and theoretical contributions with respect to an activity that has faced limited scrutiny and consideration by academic accountants. Together, they offer a substantive body of work to enable future research in this area.
The term sportswashing has been discussed and analysed within academic circles, as well as the mainstream media. However, the majority of existing research has focused on one-off event-based ...sportswashing strategies (such as autocratic states hosting major international sports events) rather than longer term investment-based strategies (such as state actors purchasing sports clubs and teams). Furthermore, little has been written about the impact of this latter strategy on the existing fanbase of the purchased team and on their relationship with sportswashing and the discourses surrounding it. This paper addresses this lacuna through analysis of a popular Manchester City online fan forum, which illustrates the manner in which this community of dedicated City fans have legitimated the actions of the club's ownership regime, the Abu Dhabi United Group – a private equity group operated by Abu Dhabi royalty and UAE politicians. The discursive strategies of the City fans are discussed, in addition to the wider significance of these strategies on the issue of sportswashing and its coverage by the media.
Since 2016, Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to improve his country's economic and strategic position through sports diplomacy. These efforts include investments in a ...diverse portfolio of sports properties, including hosting marquee professional sporting events at home and financing leagues and teams abroad. It is all part of Saudi Arabia's 'Vision 2030' strategic plan to diversify the Kingdom's economy. This paper discusses the foreign and domestic policy purposes underlying Saudi Arabia's sports diplomacy and their wider implications for the global economy. I argue that the sports diplomacy initiated by MBS is an investment both in the long-term strategic interests of Saudi Arabia and in the longevity of the ruling regime. Soft power accumulation, as would be predicted by the sports mega-events literature, is a secondary consideration. This paper unfolds in three parts, First, I discuss the relationship between sportswashing, sports diplomacy, and soft power. Second, I provide an overview of Saudi Arabia's sports engagements since 2014. Third, I explain Saudi Arabia's behaviour relative to the literature on sports diplomacy. Fourth, I explain Saudi Arabia's sports diplomacy with reference to the goals laid out in its Vision 2030 policy. I conclude with a discussion of the wider implications of Saudi Arabia's sports diplomacy.
