‘North Korea can own a club’: How fans grew to defend sportswashing

As nation-state ownership within football becomes normalized, growing numbers of fans are willing to make excuses for autocrats

It was the clearest definition of sportswashing' you could hope for. Buried within Foreign Office exchanges unearthed in a recent investigation by The Athletic into the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United, one line stuck out: The takeover of Newcastle presents an opportunity to promote a different image of Saudi Arabia in the UK."

The increased presence of nation-state ownership in sport - from the Saudi golf takeover to the acquisition of clubs such as Newcastle and Manchester City by investment funds linked closely to governments in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi - is, inevitably, money-oriented. Gulf states are attempting to diversify their economies and decrease their reliance on fossil fuels, with Saudi Arabia aiming to boost sport's percentage of the kingdom's GDP to 10% by 2030.