It is now three years since the takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi PIF. North East Bylines has been regularly reviewing what life is like in that Middle Eastern kingdom and what has happened there since that takeover in October 2021. There are some who would claim that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a place where human rights are not respected and that the regime is a murderous regime, which starts illegal wars and responsible for many human rights abuses. But is all that really true? Let’s see what has been happening and look at the hard evidence. How has Saudi Arabia been reported in recent weeks and months?
Parts I-12 of this report have covered the period from 7 October 2021 to the end of August this year. So, what happened in September 2024?
It was reported in EcoBusiness that for eight weeks, all gamers’ eyes had been on Riyadh but for a number of human rights groups the real winner of the first Esports World Cup had been Saudi Arabia itself, whose leaders were accused of deflecting attention from its human rights record by hosting the event.
It was further reported that, “while 1,500 people competed through July and August for the US $60 million prize pot, some prominent industry insiders boycotted the competition while some participants wore Pride flags on their clothes apparently to signal support for a community criminalised in the kingdom.”
It was also noted that other gamers had sought to address criticism from those who saw the tournament as another example of sportswashing, an accusation levelled at countries perceived to be using sport to improve their tarnished image abroad.
It was similarly reported on the same day that Saudi Arabia is “heavily investing in the gaming Esports sector to appeal to younger audiences while facing criticism for using sports to obscure its human rights record. The country’s Vision 2030 includes significant investments in gaming, aiming to diversify its economy. However, notable boycotts and human rights allegations persist.”
6 September
On 6 September Amnesty International reported that Saudi is to host the Internet Governance Forum in 100 days, claiming that hosting this forum revealed the Saudi regime’s deep hypocrisy given its history of arbitrarily detaining people for expressing their views online.
Consequently, Amnesty said that, “Saudi authorities must ‘use this event as an opportunity to carry out genuine reforms rather than as part of an image-washing campaign’ Saudi Arabia must immediately release all those arbitrarily detained solely for expressing their views online ahead of the upcoming Internet Governance Forum in Riyadh, said 40 NGOs and human rights organisations including Amnesty International in a joint statement published today.”
9 September
On 9 September it was reported in the Sun that NEOM, described as “Saudi Arabia’s vanity project” is costing the country trillions after being plagued with what were described as “blunders” and the issue of 100 000 missing workers. The report went on to say that, “beneath NEOM’s glitzy facade lies a story of threats, forced evictions and bloodshed that cast a dark shadow over Saudi’s vanity project”.
It was further noted that many developments had faced fierce criticism over human rights abuses, where tribes were moved out of their homeland, imprisoned or executed. It was said that, “at least 20,000 members of the Huwaitat tribe face eviction, with no information about where they will live in the future. For centuries, this indigenous community lived in the area designated for NEOM’s construction. But what followed was a harsh crackdown on those who resisted leaving their homes.
The report also said that the most tragic incident had involved the death of Abdul Rahim al-Howeiti, a prominent tribal leader who opposed the forced removals. It was stated that, “his death at the hands of Saudi security forces in 2020 became a stark symbol of the lengths to which the kingdom was willing to go to push the project forward.” One campaigner was reported as claiming that “Neom is built on Saudi blood”.
Additionally, it was noted that “Authorities in the port city of Jeddah also demolished many houses to implement Saudi’s development plans – with thousands of locals evicted illegally. Nader Hijazi – who decided to remain anonymous – grew up in Aziziyah, one of around 63 communities devastated by the demolitions. His father’s house was demolished in 2021, and he received less than a month’s notice.”
11 September
Meanwhile, on a similar theme, on 11 September it was reported in Middle East Eye that senior executives leading Saudi Arabia’s Neom megacity project had been accused of racism, misogyny and corruption, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal published on the same day.
It was further noted that “Wayne Borg, Neom’s Australian managing director in charge of media, has made several discriminatory and racist comments, the report revealed.”
It was said that in one incident, after three workers on the project had died, Borg said: “A whole bunch of people die so we’ve got to have a meeting on a Sunday night.” He was also reported as calling South Asian migrant workers at Neom “fucking morons”, adding “that is why white people are at the top of the pecking order”. The comments were said to have been made on a phone call, the recording of which was obtained by the Wall Street Journal.
12 September
The next day, 12 September, it was reported by Union of Catholic Asian News that Human Rights groups had condemned a sharp increase in the use of the death sentence in Saudi Arabia for drug offences after 42 people had been executed for such crimes in 2024.
It was further noted that the rights groups, many of them Saudi and Egyptian, had said that they were “gravely fearful for the lives of hundreds of prisoners threatened with imminent execution” on the charges. The statement signed by 31 organizations, including the London-based Saudi rights group ALQST and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights., went on to say that, “these men are living in a state of terror since the number of executions for such offences has spiked in the past two months”.
22 September
It was reported in the Irish Examiner on 22 September that a British journalist had said that he had been ‘barred’ from attending Anthony Joshua’s world title fight against Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 21 September. This was said to have happened after well-known sports writer Oliver Brown had criticised Saudi Arabian sportswashing. It was further reported that Brown, who was said to have attended several prizefights in Saudi Arabia in recent years had published a column in the Telegraph on Friday that “criticised the regime’s attempts at sportswashing.”
Following this, it was said that he was subsequently refused entry to the “Riyadh Season: Wembley Edition”.
Brown had written: “‘Saudi Disneyland’ was how I had described the build-up to Joshua versus Dubois. A convenient vehicle for projecting the kingdom’s cachet to the world. Having attended three fights involving Joshua or Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia since 2019, I had become fatalistic at the sell-out of it all. But this London chapter of the circus smacked of sportswashing on steroids, a grisly conduit for glorifying the Saudi regime on British soil. And so I wrote just that, in the full knowledge that the PRs fronting this production would bristle, but that it still needed saying.”
24 September
On 24 September, it was reported in the Mirror that the head of Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 World Cup had moved to settle human rights concerns over the country, but his comments bore a striking similarity to those from Qatari chiefs ahead of the 2022 tournament, which proved to be meaningless.
It was further noted that same-sex relations are illegal in the Middle East country and are punishable by the death penalty, unlimited prison terms, flogging, fines and forced deportation. Additionally, it was said that “Josh Cavallo, the first top-flight footballer to come out, exclusively revealed to Mirror Football that he “wouldn’t feel safe” playing in a Saudi World Cup.”
In the face of those concerns, Hammad Albalawi, head of the Saudi FA’s World Cup 2034 bid unit, responded to these concerns by telling Sky News that “everyone will be welcomed’. He played down the concerns of LGBT+ people about visiting the country. We welcome all fans. We respect the privacy of all of our guests. We’ve seen millions of guests come to Saudi Arabia in recent years. As I’ve mentioned, over a hundred sporting events with over three million fans”.
“They’ve enjoyed their experiences, they’ve enjoyed their time. People need to educate themselves about the Kingdom and the best way to do that is to come and visit. They will find hospitable Saudis, people that will be very proud to receive them.
“It’s a tourism sector that’s ever expanding and increasing and we’d love to receive all of our guests. I say [to LGBT+ people] you will be respected, you will be welcomed in Saudi Arabia and that respect and welcome is to everyone, from all around the world.”
The Mirror commented that, “these are words we’ve heard all before. In the build-up to the 2022 World Cup, there was mounting concern from LGBT+ people regarding host country Qatar, which has similar anti-LGBT+ laws to Saudi. Chief of their delivery committee Hassan al-Thawadi insisted LGBT+ would be safe and welcomed by the Middle East state. He said in September 2019: “Everybody is welcome in Qatar. The purpose of the tournament is to bring people of different values and beliefs and cultures together.”
It was noted that those words had been quickly shown to lack any backing from security forces, as teams had been forced to ditch the OneLove armband by FIFA, rainbow flags were confiscated, rainbow bucket hats were confiscated and those wearing rainbow t-shirts were denied entry to stadiums. It was further said that, “this was despite some of these items having nothing to do with the LGBT+ community”.
Also on 24 September, ALQST posted on Twitter/X https://x.com/ALQST_En/status/1838228442900234455
that “Salma al-Shehab and Nourah al-Qahtani, sentenced to prison terms of 27 and 45 years for their peaceful social media activity, are facing a new trial hearing at #SaudiArabia’s SCC on Wednesday 25 September at 8am local time. ALQST urges diplomats to request access to the trial.” They were clearly concerned that the already appalling sentences would be made even harsher.
29 September
Finally, on 29 September Amnesty International reported that the Saudi authorities had already executed 198 people so far this year and that the actual figure might even be higher due to under reporting. It was also noted that this was the highest number of executions in Saudi Arabia since 1990 and also quoted an Egyptian man on death row after being convicted of possessing eight grams of hashish as saying, “where else in the world is someone sentenced to death for this?”
So, there is evidence about what was happening concerning Saudi Arabia in September 2024. Are those who accuse the Saudi regime of having a bad human rights record being fair? What should we say and what should we do today and in the future, in order to respond to the human rights record of the Saudi regime?
