233 Comments

I really, really enjoyed this article. Thanks for writing and sharing!

Expand full comment

If Donald Trump had complained about this it would have been labeled Islamophobia, which is to say, it only matters how the Left can make political hay from it. This is a non-story.

Expand full comment

Very interesting article. I visited Riyadh a few years back and found the experience unsettling. Mosques everywhere, no churches. People friendly but guarded. It was February so the weather was not stifling. My medical colleagues were bright and their facilities were well equipped. The young physicians in training had inquiring minds. I could not imagine choosing to live there for any length of time. It was the most uncomfortable place in the entire world which I have visited.

Expand full comment

Whenver I see King Abdullah II of Jordan, I'm reminded that our republic exists in competition with other political systems - and that absent our best performance, we will be losing.

He's charming, and very intellegent in western interviews, he's fit and on the range with his son running tactical drills with his SF. He seems very worthy of his office.

The PGA is a prime example - content to sit on their monopoly, underpaying the players, counting on a declining playerbase and TV rights to get to the next year. Never tested by the need to pay for a stadium, promote a player (sponsors do this for them) or be challenged by a minor league they were easy pickings for someone with a moderate interest and... really not even deep pockets.

Everyone's saying "Oh, 200M to Mickleson!" like that's a heavy investment. It's not.

They bought the controlling stake in the PGA for less than the value of the Oakland A's.

The second I saw Roy Mcllroy doing the rounds crying over the corpse of Jamal K., I knew they were donezo.

Expand full comment

As the US spirals into the decadence of childhood sexual perversion, religious intolerance, and censorship of diversity in thought, countries with actual human rights prohibitions will dominate the globe in the end because greed speaks louder than political integrity.

Expand full comment

You forgot WWE.

Expand full comment

The people who parrot the “sports-washing” narrative are the same simpletons who think Putin personally orchestrates every scenario on Planet Earth that doesn’t fit their political preferences (while simultaneously being a deluded madman who’s lost his ability to think rationally).

They are also the same “journalists” who subjected us to years of wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Khashoggi killing, pushing the Biden administration to make MBS a pariah, only to turn a blind eye (like the Biden administration) to the Zelensky regime’s attempted assassination of a Russian journalist (which inadvertently killed his daughter).

Expand full comment

Newcastle United is not "the premier English soccer club". Not even close. It does, however, play in the "Premier League".

Expand full comment

......or maybe the Saudis are just trying to make money in the ever-growing sports world.......you know like the NFL trying to expand into Europe or the NBA trying to cozy up to China. I hear a guy can make some money in the Sports-TV world.

But I also think a smart move would be to diversify and start making EVs or solar panels and sell it to all us "pompous and racist hypocrites, who were happy to boss them around as colonial underlings for centuries, eagerly willing to invade Iraq on a misguided whim [after some people did something], only to turn around and condemn them for not being pro-LGBT folx and feminists." We sound like perfect suckers..........

Expand full comment
Jul 30, 2023·edited Jul 30, 2023

It's easy to understand why someone might be tempted to put aside whatever reservations he'd otherwise have about his employers, if lured by a salary of anywhere between two hundred million and six or seven hundred million dollars. But does anyone believe that kind of investment on the part of a regime accustomed to "telling people what to do" won't come with strings attached? These soccer stars could be in for a rude awakening if they imagine it's going to be 'lifestyle as usual' for them, just better funded. They're likelier to discover they have the autonomy of puppets. It isn't just their performance on the field that's being purchased at this price, and they'd better be prepared to deliver.

It would be interesting to see (though we probably never will) just what off-field expectations of them actually get written into their contracts, and how broadly worded they are (infinitely interpretable 'morality' clauses, for example). Once the players have signed, non-compliance won't be an option, and the regime will be the final authority on what constitutes compliance. The players can also expect their investors to keep a close eye on them, just as they would with any other investment.

Expand full comment

There is a false narrative about Jamal Khashoggi that has taken hold and is repeated in this article....

"and disembowels Washington Post columnists" and " the brutal assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi newspaper columnist critical of the regime."

Here's a different view...

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/an-improvised-explosive-device

Expand full comment

These comments are truly horrifying in their ignorance and rationalization. Most all by men. Everything and everyone is for sale. Nothing else matters. Nothing. We all wear a price tag and have organized the world as such. Where are you on that totem pole? That’s your life.

Expand full comment

Sports are a neutral territory. It brings people together of all political Stars and Stripes. It makes perfect sense that the Middle East would want a piece of this, as it inserts traditionally non-neutral countries into a traditionally neutral sphere for their own political gain.

Expand full comment

Am I to be upset, despondent, angry? Professional athletes are loyal to only one thing, greenbacks. In MLB players rotate from one team to the next & they merely follow the money. Team owners attempt to buy a championship. Look no further then the Dodgers, Mets & Phillies. LeBron James probably the greatest NBA player of his generation has bounced around like a vagabond to whomever provided the cash. Don't blame the Saudis' for they've had a good teacher, the U.S.; It's only a matter of time before the Saudis'/Chinese own a professional U.S. team. The NBA acts as if Chairman Xi Jinping has a vested interest.

Expand full comment

So what is the problem with trying to make as much money as you can? Especially if you're an athlete who is too old to work at age 35.

Your silent partner the US government is going to take half of it anyway.

Yes, team owners try to buy championships....it's about the only way to win these days.

And please don't compare our athletes to these terrorist villains who push gays off rooftops, oppress women, and would cut your throat just as soon as look at you.

Wise up pal

Expand full comment

Thank you for your in depth criticism. First I'm a capitalist so making money is OK with me but I take umbrage with your last statement. Let's compare Saudi Arabia with America's true existential threat, CHINA. The Saudis' are terrorists who oppress women, murder anyone who challenges them & do nasty things to gays. China murders, rapes & places in concentration camps anyone they dislike. China has a huge, well equipped military, including ICBMs, Nuclear weapons, Air Force & Navy that threatens Taiwan, India & ultimately the U.S.; China also resorts to cyber Warfare & flies spy balloons across the U.S.; Saudi Arabia does what? China allies with Putin, Iran & North Korea. Saudi Arabia is a serious threat in starting WW lll? Really! If one cares about Climate Change the Saudis' supply oil. Putin supplies more oil & Natural Gas while China & India provide the vast majority of the world's pollutants. As for gays I'm not certain how gays fare in China but I wouldn't want to be a gay living in China. As for making money, Hollywood, the NBA & High Tech CEO's LOVE China! China manufactures most of our meds, appliances & owns a large number of our farms. Saudi Arabia & China do have one thing in common. Both told Biden & his minions to go to hell. So, WISE UP PAL!

Expand full comment

I should not have been so flippant. Apologies.

Both China & Saudi Arabia are threats, in different measures. Is it worth discussing which is greater? One can kill us quickly (9/11) and the other slowly.

If so, I think China is the greater threat. We have our own oil and bigger military muscle than Saudi. China? Trouble on every front.

Expand full comment

I will not visit Dubai or fly with Emirate Airlines. They funded the 911 terrorists. Major human rights abuses.

Expand full comment

Speaking of "unaccountable dudes" have you heard all the politicians, SES employees, and POTUS' family members are not held account? This also describes many leaders, in Europe and Canada. Maybe step out of your glass house for a bit.

Expand full comment