Sportswashing explained:

24 JULY 2018
How repressive states and governments use ‘sportswashing’ to remove stains on their reputation
https://theconversation.com/how-repressive-states-and-governments-use-sportswashing-to-remove-stains-on-their-reputation-100395 

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24 AUGUST 2018
Care must be taken when using the term sportswashing. It is important to acknowledge the hypocrisy of nations, often guilty of similar offences, that point the moral finger at nations for their human rights violations and practices. Touches on the effectiveness of sportswashing.
https://www.policyforum.net/sport-washing-soft-power-and-scrubbing-the-stains/

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30 OCTOBER 2018
Sports Washing is the grim game of our time
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/sportswashing-is-the-grim-game-of-our-times-1.3679671

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15 FEBRUARY 2019
Sports Washing and the tangled web of europe's biggest clubs
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/feb/15/sportswashing-europes-biggest-clubs-champions-league-owners-sponsors-uefa

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26 APRIL 2019
Gloss not Glory, the dangerous game of sports washing
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/blog/post/gloss-not-glory-dangerous-game-sportswashing

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2 SEPTEMBER 2019
Sportswashing: how Saudi Arabia lobbies the US's largest sports bodies Saudi Arabia’s relatively sudden interest in sports can be construed as a soft power tactic to help distract from the kingdom’s ongoing human rights abuses and the Yemen crisis
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/sep/02/sportswashing-saudi-arabia-sports-mohammed-bin-salman

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Examples of Poor Human Rights records in the states of Qatar and the UAE:

25 SEPTEMBER 2013
Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/revealed-qatars-world-cup-slaves

 

27 SEPTEMBER 2017
Thousands of Qatar World Cup workers ‘subjected to life-threatening heat’
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/sep/27/thousands-qatar-world-cup-workers-life-threatening-heat

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2018
Amnesty International Report 2018
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/united-arab-emirates/report-united-arab-emirates/

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NO DATE
CRACKDOWN ON WHRDS IN SAUDI ARABIA
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/crackdown-whrds-saudi-arabia

NO DATE
AHMED MANSOOR
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/ahmed-mansoor

2018
Yemen Events of 2018
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/yemen

23 NOVEMBER 2018
The UAE is trampling human rights. Man City must finally speak out
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/23/uae-human-rights-man-city-jailing-british-academic

20 NOVEMBER 2018
World Cup 2022: Why Qatar's human rights record is still cause for concern
https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/qatar-world-cup-2022-human-rights-record-stadium-deaths-amnesty-international-cause-concern-208436

 

26 NOVEMBER 2018
UK-UAE relations will take time to recover from Hedges affair
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/26/uk-uae-relations-will-take-time-to-recover-from-hedges-affair

 

27 NOVEMBER 2018
Matthew Hedges: pardoned academic returns to UK
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/27/matthew-hedges-jailed-academic-returns-to-uk-after-uae-pardon

 

4 DECEMBER 2018
The UAE’s sportswashing of human rights
https://www.adhrb.org/2018/12/the-uaes-sportswashing-of-human-rights-abuses/

25 OCTOBER 2018
Saudi Arabia Says Evidence Points to Premeditated Killing of Khashoggi
https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-attorney-general-says-evidence-points-to-premeditated-killing-of-khashoggi-1540466602

16 NOVEMBER 2018
CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-concludes-saudi-crown-prince-ordered-jamal-khashoggis-assassination/2018/11/16/98c89fe6-e9b2-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html

10 FEBRUARY 2019
A Princess Vanishes. A Video Offers Alarming Clues.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/10/world/middleeast/princess-latifa-sheikha-dubai.html

 

15 FEBRUARY 2019
'I was sure I'd die': UK football fan detained in UAE feared for his life
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/15/i-was-sure-i-would-die-ali-issa-ahmad-uk-football-fan-detained-in-uae-feared-for-his-life

 

21 JUNE 2019
Front Line Defenders: Set Them Free
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/set-them-free

 

23 JULY 2019

UK academic accused of spying in UAE lodges complaint with UN
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/23/matt-hedges-uk-academic-accused-of-spying-in-uae-lodges-complaint-with-un

7 OCTOBER 2019
Sudden deaths of hundreds of migrant workers in Qatar not investigated
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/oct/07/sudden-deaths-of-hundreds-of-migrant-workers-in-qatar-not-investigated

 

1 OCTOBER 2019
The killing of Jamal Khashoggi: Business as usual for Saudi crown prince one year on
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/the-killing-of-jamal-khashoggi-business-as-usual-for-saudi-crown-prince-one-year-on-1.4036398

2 OCTOBER 2019
Revealed: hundreds of migrant workers dying of heat stress in Qatar each year
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/oct/02/revealed-hundreds-of-migrant-workers-dying-of-heat-stress-in-qatar-each-year

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Sportswashing in action:

No Date
Chapter 2: The Secret 'Project Longbow'
https://www.spiegel.de/international/topic/football_leaks/archiv-2018310.html

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11 NOVEMBER 2011
Amnesty International Critique of City
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/nov/11/manchester-city-owners-accused-sportswashing-gulf-image

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15 NOVEMBER 2017
Manchester City’s plan for global domination
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/15/manchester-city-football-group-ferran-soriano

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9 AUGUST 2019
What Are Manchester City?
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/manchester-city-premier-league-season-preview-champions-greatest-team-ever-sportswashing-abu-dhabi-a9046866.html

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24 OCTOBER 2018
Manchester City fans’ defence of UAE shows sportswashing in action
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/nov/24/manchester-city-fans-defence-uae-sportswashing-tribal-loyalty

 

30th NOVEMBER 2018
Want to know how successful sports washing is? Just look at the Manchester City fans who cheerlead for Abu Dhabi
https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester-city-abu-dhabi-uae-sports-washing-199116

15 FEBRUARY 2019
Gazprom v Abu Dhabi: an alternative guide to the Champions League ties
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/feb/15/gazprom-abu-dhabi-alternative-guide-champions-league-ties-last-16

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5 APRIL 2019
Champions League

PSG v Manchester City emblematic of how Gulf rivals are fuelling football
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/apr/05/manchester-city-psg-champions-league-football-finance

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24 MAY 2019
Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia: France Télévisions must renounce a partnership which contradicts its principles
https://www.fidh.org/en/region/north-africa-middle-east/saudi-arabia/dakar-rally-in-saudi-arabia-france-televisions-must-renounce-a

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22 MAY 2019
The Outer Line: How cycling can avoid “sports-washing”
https://www.velonews.com/2019/05/commentary/the-outer-line-how-cycling-can-avoid-sports-washing_494107

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13 AUGUST 2019
Joshua vs Ruiz title fight in Saudi Arabia will ‘change boxing forever,’ promoter says
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/13/joshua-vs-ruiz-title-fight-in-saudi-arabia-will-change-boxing-forever-promoter-says.html

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4 SEPTEMBER 2019
Arabian fights: inside the UFC’s long-term partnership with the UAE
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/sep/04/arabian-fights-inside-the-ufcs-long-term-partnership-with-the-uae

13 SEPTEMBER 2019
Manchester City accounts show Sheikh Mansour has put £1.3bn into club
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/sep/13/manchester-city-accounts-sheikh-mansour