The Saudi takeover of European football is about power, not sportswashing

Saudi buying up the Italian and Spanish Super Cups has legitimized the nation's regime, at home and around the world

In early 2019, a rising star of the Italian far-right took to Twitter to lambaste Serie A's decision to hold the Supercoppa in Saudi Arabia for the second consecutive year. Giorgia Meloni was at that point the leader of a small but growing movement in Italian politics; her Brothers of Italy party had won a little over 4% of the vote in the 2018 general election. The Supercoppa has long been staged outside Italy: previous editions have been held in New Jersey, Beijing, Tripoli, and Doha. But for Meloni, the decision to stage the 2019 final in Riyadh was beyond the pale: she labeled it an absolute disgrace," describing Saudi Arabia as a country that discriminates against women and our values."

Meloni's protest did nothing to throw the Italian football authorities off course. Following a two-year Covid-enforced hiatus, the Supercoppa last year returned to Saudi Arabia, where it will be played until 2029 under the terms of a new deal reportedly worth 138m. This year saw the inauguration of a four-team format for the competition, contested by the winners and runners-up of the previous season's Serie A and Coppa Italia; in Monday's final, staged in the 25,000-seat KSU Stadium in Riyadh (home of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr), Inter triumphed thanks to a late goal from Lautaro Martinez. After sweeping home Benjamin Pavard's clever cut-back, Martinez ran the length of the field to celebrate with the thousand or so Inter fans gathered behind a big CURVA NORD" banner placed over the sideline hoardings.