TAINTED TRIUMPH

Statement On Newcastle United's League Cup Win

During three years of Saudi state ownership of Newcastle United, NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing (NUFCFAS) have appealed to our fellow Newcastle fans and local politicians to stick to their pre-takeover commitments to ‘keep talking about human rights.’

Let’s be honest, this has not happened.

Fan groups, MPs and Newcastle City Council have all been approached consistently by Saudi Human rights advocates to take specific  and public action in support of the victims of the regime which owns the club.

It took three years of campaigning by NUFCFAS to get the Newcastle City council to meet with a delegation of Saudi human rights activists on February 18th. Unfortunately Council leader Karen Kilgour refused to have her picture taken outside the Civic centre with the delegation, with included two sisters of Saudi women who have been jailed, abused and tortured by the Saudi regime. Yet we note that Karen Kilgour had her photo taken in the same place draped in a Newcastle scarf before the cup final.

At the final we had the spectacle of NUFC Chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan holding the Carabao Cup aloft. Due to lack of scrutiny by the media most fans will be unaware that the Newcastle United Chairman is also a sitting Saudi minster and a right-hand man of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the chief dictator of Saudi Arabia.

Undoubtedly, outside of the region, due to the lack of clear and public statements in support of the many victims of the Saudi state by NUFC fan groups and local politicians, Newcastle United’s victory will also be seen as a victory for the human rights abusing regime and their sportswashing project. 

One of the members of the Saudi human rights delegation to Newcastle was the sister of Manahel al-Otaibi, a 30 year old fitness instructor who is serving 11 years in prison simply for posting on social media in support of women’s rights. Her sister has appealed directly to Newcastle fans to support Manahel. If fans held up posters calling for her release at a match it would have a huge effect. The Newcastle fan group Wor Flags organised a magnificent display at the cup final. Three years ago they made this statement: “If we felt the Saudis were abusing women’s rights, we would consider a display featuring a woman in a black and white top.” - Interview in DW IN 2020

Many Saudi women like Manahel are indeed having their rights abused by the Saudi state so why no display in support of Saudi women?

Fans of other clubs, while happy for our fans for winning our first domestic trophy in 70 years are also pointing out that it comes at a price, which is to say nothing about the human rights abuses of the owners. This is what sportswashing is all about.

The whole of football is also worried about the future of the game. Will football be transformed into simply a plaything and propaganda tool for dictatorships and oligarchs? Is this the future we want for the once beautiful game? The only way this can be stopped is if grassroots fans unite and call out the crimes of state owners of our football club and stand up for human rights.

We know that it should be a great day for the city of Newcastle and many will feel that way but for us it is unfortunately tainted by the ownership of the club.

When we see the Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, considered the right-hand man of the Saudi Crown Prince, celebrating with the trophy, it is very difficult to separate the success of the club from the ownership, knowing that it is funded by a human rights abusing regime. Knowing that they bought the club for moments like this, where they can benefit from all the positive publicity around the club, it is hard not to see this as a success for sportswashing.

"Nothing has changed. Winning a cup at Wembley doesn't end the misogynistic guardianship system.  It doesn't change the racist and exploitative Kafala System for migrant workers and it doesn't mean that innocent people, languishing in Saudi prison cells are being released.”

Peter Sagar, lifelong Newcastle fan and NUFCFAS collaborator.

John Hird, a founder of NUFCFAS reflected: “I was born a Toon fan. I remember my dad crying his eyes out after he came back from the Fairs Cup win in 1969. I still have the scrap book of the cup run he made me. Many fans like me love the club but feel little joy that our trophy drought has been broken by doing a deal with a bunch of tyrants. The deal is; accept the money they have stolen from the Saudi people but say nothing about the horrendous human rights abuses the regime commits. As a campaign we have been privileged to meet and work with Saudi human rights advocates whose relatives and loved ones are jailed, tortured and abused by the ultimate owners of our football club. They are brave people and we will continue our campaign in support of them to show that not all Newcastle fans can be sportswashed. 

I and many other Newcastle fans were fans long before the Saudi state took over the club and we’ll still be fans long after they’ve been forced out and we will have stayed true to our values and working class traditions of solidarity."

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