Can sportswashing repair a country's damaged reputation?

Analysis: Saudia Arabia believe a massive investment in sport will effectively divert attention away from its poor human rights record

Few things in the world are as powerful as sports in rallying support. In 2005, after the Ivory Coast football team qualified for their first ever World Cup finals, the team pleaded on their knees to their fellow Ivorians to stop the civil war. Their speech convinced the two sides to ceasefire and start peace negotiation. If sports can bring peace to a war-torn country, why can't it whitewash a country’s reputation?

Saudi Arabia appears to think so as the country is investing heavily in sports. In soccer, Saudi Pro League’s Al Hilal recently made headlines for bidding €300 million for French superstar forward Kylian Mbappé. Last year, another Saudi Arabia club Al Nassr signed one of the most recognisable names in world football in Cristiano Ronaldo, who is now reportedly being paid more than €200 million a year. Many other high-profile footballers, such as Karim Benzema (2022 Ballon d’Or winner), N’Golo Kante (a 2018 World Cup winner), Neymar (the Brazilian star formerly of Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain) and Jordan Henderson (Liverpool’s captain) are moving to the Saudi Pro League this year.

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From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, sports journalist Gavin Cooney from The42.ie and James Lynch from human rights research group Fairsquare on how Saudi money is attracting European footballers

Away from football, Saudi Arabia has