Abstract:

The concept of sportswashing can be summarized as the efforts of shareholders such as the government, politicians or business people benefitting from sports in order to improve their image in public eye, dismiss negative perceptions, cover-up misdeeds and alter the broadcast This brand new and recently popular term could also be identified as “exoneration via sports” in Turkish. The purpose of the present study is to contribute to the theoretical construction of the concept of sportswashing with the method of descriptive analysis of the Saudi Arabian case. The roles of authoritarian governments, sports fans, sportspeople and human right organizations, who are the active shareholders of sportswashing, are aimed to be defined. The historical circumstances, tools, objectives and theoretical framework of the concept are focused and the reasons that lead authoritarian regimes to sportswashing activities and the applied policies are analyzed. In order to solidify the study, Saudi Arabia's frequently discussed post-2017 policies were examined as an example of sportswashing. For the purpose of revealing a generalizable outcome with a clear sub-case analysis, the focus of the study is built on the acquisition of the English Premier League team Newcastle United by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has a wide coverage in the international community. The study also focuses on which sports activities the Riyadh governance is directed to and the costs undertaken. Additionally, the desired and possible negative outcomes are also attempted to be identified. The conclusion part provides assumptions about the functionality of sportswashing methods for authoritarian regimes seeking to improve their reputation in western societies. It focuses on the measures that could be taken by the parties in order to conserve the morality in sports.