THE BUSINESS OF GLOBAL SPORTS: BEHIND THE CURTAINS 

According to a research survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, more than 59% of Pakistanis watch a global sport, mostly cricket. Global sports are watched by billions of people around the globe, as they provide a type of entertainment that is exciting and full of emotions. While experiencing these sort of matches , people tend to forget that there’s much more to a sport, like football, than what happens on the pitch. This article discusses one aspect of that.

Sports is one of the most attention-grasping factors in the world. This is also one of the richest and strongest global industries. Global sports events, like the FIFA World Cup are broadcast all over the world and most of the world population watches the events on TV, as well as searches them on the Internet. Sports teams are also followed by millions of people around the globe. For obvious reasons, the country that is hosting such global sports events will be watched or experienced by billions people that will help the host nation to convey a better image of itself and to attract more and more capital via industries, investors, tourists, etc. That is why securing the hosting rights of such a mega sports event like the FIFA World cup is considered a huge achievement, and countries compete each other for it. Similarly, owning a sports team, like a football club, will also give such advantages to the owners, as a big team followed by millions from all corners of the world indirectly advertises the owners everywhere in the world.

Being able to host a mega sports event or owning a beloved team serves another important function: the whitening of black money, and the improvement of a country’s or organization’s tarnished image. Because of all these benefits, sports is often used by states in global politics to bring about and complete nefarious plans. Quite how they do it will be explained by using the example of such events that occur in the world of football; the most popular sport in the world, and the sport with the greatest mass appeal.

in 2018, Russia was successful in securing the hosting rise of FIFA World Cup, spending lavishly on stadiums, accommodation and transport. They were deemed nothing less than perfect hosts. Russia, in turn, got worldwide exposure, investments, tourists new branches of global brands, and opening of various new industries and employments, etc. Russia became a dream destination overnight, and a favorite nation even for citizens of rival nations like the USA. But who knew that just a couple of years into the future, this loved country would start a bloody war on one of its weakest neighbors, killing thousands of Innocents, and destroying billions’ worth of assets. No one anticipated that, but experts have realized just now that everything Russia was doing since a long time ago was to create a better image of itself so that it would take huge actions in the near future, like invading a country, and most nations would still have a good image of it. So in a very realistic sense, it can be claimed that Russia really used the FIFA World Cup to invade Ukraine!

The gulfs states: the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia extract vast reserves of wealth from their oil fields. Obviously, this wealth isn’t eternal as fossil fuels eventually diminish. So these states have to reinvest the money elsewhere, notably, in the world of sports, especially football, for the reasons discussed previously. Qatar his bought the world-famous club PSG in France, and on a yearly basis invests billions of dollars into it. This makes the French League richer, which in turn makes France a bit more rich, and this implies that France will favor Qatar on all forums, even if Qatar has severe human rights violations. These violations are mostly about not giving adequate facilities to the ordinary workers who work in Qatari oil fields. These workers come mostly from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, mostly Muslim. Qatar also has secured hosting rights for FIFA World Cup 2022, amid protests from humanitarian platforms, demanding the re-selection of the host. But since FIFA is mostly an entertainment business, 90% of the time its officials ignore the morality and opt for the money, which flows in rivers from Qatar and the other gulf nations. Just imagine what would happen if Qatar used all this money for development in Pakistan. It would be an ideal situation morally for Qatar, but not ideal for them financially. Alas! We live in a realistic world, not a utopia.

 Similarly, the UAE also invests heavily in football, owning clubs all over the world, most notably Man City, who have made the English Premier League much more wealthier. The UAE also has a similar track record of rights violations, black money, corruption, etc. But it invests in almost all major countries, so no nation of influence ever opposes it, anywhere. Likewise, Saudi Arabia’s rulers are not so holy as the land itself and are fighting several secret wars in the Middle East, most notably in Yemen. but anyone seldom brings this issue forward. A reason being the investments that it pours into the sports departments of already rich and influential nations, especially in Europe. quite recently the Saudi state’s Public Investment Fund acquired the ownership of Newcastle United, an English club, making it the richest club in the world as the PIF has reserves of over 480 billion dollars. The PIF is the center of Muhammad Bin Salman’s Vision 2030, which aims at diversifying the nation’s economy in order to end its oil dependence.

The above mentioned are just some examples of what goes on behind the curtains in sports. There are a lot of other nations, for example, China, who indulge in such type of sports washing. These glamorous activities overshadow all the proxy wars and the illegal activities that various states sponsor and thus clean their image effectively. In this way, football, and sports in general, can be (and is being) used for nefarious plans. So the next time you plan to choose your favorite team, first make sure that it is not being run by an entity existing solely for sports washing.