VISION, MISSION, AND STRATEGY FOR THE EUROPEAN "RECLAIM THE GAME" CAMPAIGN

Mission Statement:

Football is perhaps the world's most popular sporting and cultural institution. With the awarding of the World Cup 2034 to Saudi Arabia, global football has definitively lost its integrity. FIFA has sold its soul. While national football associations and supporters in Europe do not agree with holding World Cups in countries which commit gross human rights abuses, they still depend on FIFA for the representation of their teams in World Cup and other football competitions. Clubs, media and global football organisations have become the property of countries and companies that prefer money and power over the love of the game. Nation states have started to use ownership of our football clubs as vehicles for soft power and sportswashing.

As a result, the total ownership of the game of football now lies completely out of the control and influence of the people who created it in the past and who still love the game the most. Football feels increasingly separated from its roots in our many and diverse communities.

One of the worst examples of this disconnect between the interests of the fans and the selling of the soul of football is the deal between the Saudi dictatorship and the Spanish Football Association. The rights to the Super Cup were sold to the Saudi regime in a multi million Euro deal, which means the competition is played on another continent. As well as increasing the carbon footprint this shows a total disregard for Spanish football fans who cannot afford to travel to Saudi Arabia to see their team. It also makes LGBTQI+ and women football fans feel excluded as Saudi Arabia criminalizes gay people and women do not have equal rights. Athletic Bilbao midfielder Raul Garcia called the decision to play ‘La Supa Copa’ in Saudi Arabia, a "complete nonsense" and said that "fans have been forgotten" because "football now is all about making money and finding sponsors."  

The game of football needs a reset. A new balance in which the fans, supporters and other passionate football enthusiasts regain part of the ownership and in which money functions as a facilitator to improve and innovate the game instead of being merely a goal. We need to reclaim the game! 

Vision:

For fans, football is an important part of their lives. Therefore it should represent universal  values in life like integrity, honesty and equality of all people. The beautiful game should be organized in a democratic way. Football democracy would mean the fans choosing the leadership of clubs, national unions and global representation. Sponsors and money should be a way to improve and enhance the game, not the overriding  goal as it is unfortunately becoming. Concentrating the power and wealth in fewer and fewer hands in the football pyramid, including nation state and multi-club ownership is not sustainable financially or acceptable morally. If football ceases to have a level playing field it will no longer be a sport. 

Mission:

1. Legislation in Europe on ownership of football clubs before 2034. Nation states cannot be allowed to own our football clubs. Companies have to apply the historic and democratic values of the game and fans must be involved in the ownership.

2. A reinvention of the global organization (currently FIFA) of the game. There have been numerous cases of corruption and vote rigging at the top levels of FIFA. For the sake of the future of football as a sport for and by the people rather than as a money making plaything of the mega-rich, fundamental changes in the administration of the game are urgently needed.   Fans and democracy are the starting point. 

3. Opposition to the proposed World Cup in Saudi Arabia. Human rights abusing dictatorships cannot be allowed to use the beautiful game to sportswash away their crimes. 

4. Appeal to football associations, legislators, players and fans in Europe to boycott the 2034 World Cup and if it goes ahead to organize an alternative ‘Human Rights’ World Cup.

5. Urge sponsors to rethink their support for dictatorships hosting events, safeguarding human rights, and upholding CSR values.

Strategy:

Unite and communicate with the same message and apply pressure on those people and organizations that can contribute to our mission and who approve of our vision.  

Gerard Arink

Pro2 Foundation

LISTEN TO THE VICTIMS - PUBLIC MEETING IN NEWCASTLE WITH LINA AL-HATHLOUL

Lina is a leading Saudi Human Rights Activist, now head of monitoring and advocacy for ALQST. Her sister, Loujain, was arrested, brutally tortured, and forcibly disappeared for months. Loujain was sentenced as a terrorist for fighting for women's rights in Saudi Arabia.

With St. James’ Park set to host the Saudi Arabian national team, we are honoured to welcome her to Newcastle to tell her story and speak on behalf of the victims of this brutal regime which owns our club.

A member of the Newcastle branch of Amnesty International talks to us about some of the human rights abuses taking place in Saudi Arabia, Nic McGeehan of FairSquare talks about the political implications of Saudi Arabia's investment in Newcastle, while John and Andrew talk about our group, their support for Newcastle United, and how that has been affected by the Saudi takeover of our club.

Help us to hold more events like this in future.

FEATURED ARTICLES

NEW - FANZINE ISSUE 3 - JUNE 2023

Since Hailstones in the Desert No2, NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing have continued to campaign, raising the issue of sportswashing and urging our fellow fans, local MPs, and everyone connected to the club to make good on pre-takeover commitments to ‘hold the Saudi owners to account regarding human rights abuses.’

During the course of our campaigning, we have been approached by fans of other clubs who are worried about the direction football is taking. In discussions we have pointed out that only two Premier League clubs are state owned. It is not inevitable that all our football clubs will be bought up by human rights abusing states, but that will depend on how football fans react.

This edition of Hailstones in the Desert is a big issue with articles by NUFC fans, victims of the Saudi regime and fans who oppose state ownership of our football clubs.

Everyone in our campaign is an NUFC fan. We volunteer for the campaign because we do not want one of the world’s bloodiest dictatorships, using our club to sportswash away their many crimes and human rights abuses.

The fanzine is available to download for free. Please share the link to get the word out to more supporters.

In the future we would like to produce a hard copy of the fanzine. If you can, please make a donation to support the fanzine and NUFCFAS’ campaigning work.

 Suggested Donation - £3

EASY CITIES TO BUY

A detailed report by FairSquare on the bigger picture, politically and economically, of the takeovers of two historic English football clubs. How a lack of civic leadership has enabled sportswashing projects in Manchester and Newcastle.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST STATE OWNERSHIP OF FOOTBALL CLUBS

We hosted a Twitter Space on state ownership for fans of all clubs. Listen to the full discussion here:

JOINT STATEMENT FROM NUFC FANS AGAINST SPORTSWASHING AND UNITED AGAINST SPORTSWASHING

While NUFC play MUFC on Sunday, groups of fans from both clubs will be united in a common cause, regardless of the result on the pitch.

We are Newcastle United and Manchester United fans standing together to call for an end to the sale of our historic clubs to states which use them to sportswash their human rights abuses.

When Manchester City was bought by Sheikh Mansour in 2008 he was seen as a rich benefactor, and the fact that he was the brother of the president and deputy prime minister of a country run as a dictatorship was not considered important. We now know that the UAE is one of the most oppressive regimes in the world.

Much more was known about the poor human rights record in Saudi Arabia yet the Premier League and UK government did nothing to prevent their purchase of Newcastle United.

There is now concern over the legitimacy of the purchase after the chairman, Yasir al-Rumayyan was described in a US court document as “a sitting minister of the Saudi government”. Richard Masters has said under questioning in a parliamentary committee this week that, "there may or may not be an investigation going on” into the Saudi dictatorship’s ownership of Newcastle United. As football fans, we demand full transparency on this issue. There should be no ‘secret deals’ with repressive regimes, no matter how much money they have promised to invest in the Premier League. It’s time for Richard Masters to come clean and publish what the ‘legal and binding assurances’ given to the Premier League were.

Now we have the threat of a third club, Manchester United, being taken over by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, close family to the president and chairman of the Qatari Islamic Bank. This follows the exposure of Qatari human rights abuses during the World Cup. We know that Qatar has a law No. (25) of 2002 which makes any significant investment subject to direct supervision of the state.

On March 30th, the Premier League agreed to a toughened up Owner’s and Director’s Test which includes disqualification for ‘human rights abuses.’ This is welcome. However, we remain concerned that an individual from a repressive regime can still become an owner if it is not made clear that the approval of a significant investment is dictated by the ruling family in these Gulf states. It is impossible to separate Sheikh Mansour from the UAE authorities and the same is true of Skeikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and the Qatari authorities.

As football fans, regardless of our club colours we believe dictatorships such as Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Qatar should be disqualified from owning clubs because of their appalling human rights records.

Further, pumping money disproportionately into a small number of clubs distorts the fairness of the game. We are sure the fans of the other 17 other clubs in the Premier League will agree with us.

We invite all football fans to join us in opposing sportswashing and state ownership of our football clubs and to support human rights. Football fans united can force the government and Premier League to act.

Would you like to support us? All funds will go towards the campaign.

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