Golf, F1 and now India: Can Saudi Arabia's 'sportwashing' change Indian sports?

When an announcement was made by the Indian football federation that the 2023 Santosh Trophy final would be held in Saudi Arabia, followers of Indian sports might have been forgiven for seeing it as a slightly curious but a one-time move.

At the men's IPL a month later, however, once again there was an absurd number of references to Saudi Arabia - not a country usually associated with cricket.

The Orange Cap winner, for instance, was called the Aramco Orange Cap winner. Aramco happens to be the Saudi state-owned oil company, the biggest oil company in the world, one of the biggest drivers of the world's climate crisis. At every six too, the commentators mentioned a ‘Visit Saudi' campaign. The Saudi Tourism Authority was an official partner of the 2023 IPL, marking the IPL's first ever sponsorship deal with a foreign government, a deal estimated to be for Rs 60 crore per season.

For the unsuspecting fan, this sudden deluge of Saudi Arabian lexicon into Indian sports could come across as befuddling. But it is part of a global phenomenon that has put the world of sports into a moral dilemma on how to deal with Saudi Arabia utilizing sports a tool to whitewash its image of poor human rights, war and irresponsible fuel production.

The Middle Eastern behemoth, marked as USA's political ally, is working on mission mode to revamp their image as a sports and tourism destination as their oil supply continues to dry up. They did this by inviting foreign athletes to represent them in Olympic events in the beginning, now they are spreading their wings even further.

But Saudi Arabai's inroads into India are only a small part of the global 'sports whitewashing', or simply 'sportwashing' that they have been accused of. Football, Formula 1 and Golf have all already kneeled to the economic prowess of Saudi Arabia.

Cash Is King

The world of golf is in a critical state. It was recently revealed that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund-backed 'LIV Golf' would be merging with USA PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

The PGA Tour initially remained defiant and went to the extent of banning players signed by LIV Golf for major tournaments. In the middle of this turbulent Cold War, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said, “I would ask any player who has left or any player who would consider leaving [for LIV Golf], have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA tour?”

Critics of the new golf deal have termed it stained with ‘blood money’. But as was the case with such accusations hurled at the rebel cricket teams which toured apertheid South Africa in the 1980s, cash has still turned out to be king. Morality has remained in the backseat.

Marquee golfers such as Rory Mcllroy, who feels like a sacrificial lamb with the new LIV Golf deal, said bluntly, “I hate LIV. I hope it goes away.” Even though he stood his ground while others around him caved in to the lucrative contracts, Mcllroy's strategic defiance now feels meaningless. Will the true essence of golf slowly decay now, as some fans fear?

The nature of world football is also being changed by the Saudi 'sportwashing'.

Since the Saudi Pro Football League doesn’t adhere to Financial Fair Play rules that regulate European football, it can rope in big names such as Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo with irresistible offers. In addition to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund being instrumental in the ownership of Newcastle United, it will now gain complete control over four Saudi Pro League teams - Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Ahli.

This only means that with a never-ending sovereign wealth-fund in hand, more marquee players will undoubtedly be signed in the near future.

Inroads into India's sports market

The thrust on cricket is new. Which would indicate that the Saudi attention has just shifted to the Indian market in terms of this 'sportwashing' project. Not just inroads into the IPL, Saudi Arabia also is in talks with the BCCI to initiate a T20 league of their own with some star Indian cricketers.

“If you look at other sports they’ve been involved in, cricket is something I imagine would be attractive to them. Given their advance into the sport more generally, cricket would work quite well for Saudi Arabia. They’re pretty keen to invest in sport, and given their regional presence, cricket would seem a pretty obvious one to pursue," said ICC Chairman Greg Barclay.

Their involvement in the IPL is being seen as a stepping stone for a T20 league which ropes in world-class players with salaries that cannot be matched by any other league. But with Saudi also casting their net over sports like boxing, another pertinent question to be asked is if this phenomenon will spread to other sports as well.