- Saudi Arabia lobbied major US sporting bodies as part of a plan to expand their domestic sports industry.
- The Saudi General Sports Authority paid consultants Churchill Ripley $22,000 a month to connect them with stars like Kobe Bryant, documents filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act show.
- The news, first reported by the Guardian, shows Saudi Arabia is mobilizing on its plan to make sports a multi-million dollar industry in future.
- The country have been accused of "sportswashing", a term for unsavoury figures piling money into popular sports to improve their public image.
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Saudi Arabia met with NBA stars and major US sports leagues to discuss their sports' future in the Gulf, a move rights groups say is an attempt to "sportswash'' its reputation on the world stage.
The Saudi General Sports Authority paid US consultants Churchill Ripley LLC $22,000 a month to set them up with stars like Kobe Bryant, the National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Baseball (MLB), the Guardian reported, citing documents filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Under federal law, US companies working with "agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity" must notify the government, as happened in this case.
Princess Reema bint Bandar al-Saud, who is now the Saudi ambassador to the US, was introduced to major players by Churchill Ripley during her time working with the General Sports Authority in 2018.
Amongst the meetings, declared by Churchill Ripley in the government filings, were:
- Kobe Bryant, to discuss the"development of basketball in Saudi Arabia."
- Sophie Goldschmidt, World Surf League CEO, about "development of the sport of surfing in Saudi Arabia."
- Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, about hockey in Saudi Arabia.
- Tony Petitti, COO of Major League Baseball (MLB).
- Don Garber, commissioner of Major League Soccer (MLS).
- Officials at Madison Square Garden regarding the development of "stadium infrastructure."
The Princess also met with executives at Bing and Twitch to discuss e-sports streaming, the filings show.
Saudi Arabia wants international sport to be a new stream of income, part of crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 project to modernize Saudi Arabia.
So far, the kingdom has secured contracts with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and hosted legs of Formula-E racing and PGA European Tour golf.
Most recently Saudi Arabia landed the rights to host the rematch bout between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr, likely the biggest boxing event of 2019.
Rights groups have lambasted countries like Saudi Arabia for "sportswashing," a term for using popular athletes and sporting events to enhance an otherwise questionable reputation.
The term was coined by Amnesty International, who used it to criticize Manchester City's owner Sheikh Mansour, from Abu Dhabi.
Saudi Arabia's reputation is still suffering after the murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018.
The UN's investigation into his death concluded there was "credible evidence" bin Salman is responsible.