Sportswashing

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As sports Washing ( word composition of Sport and whitewashing ) are referred efforts, the credibility of their own country through the organization of sporting events and their positive reputation in the media to improve. This term primarily applies to the Gulf States , which are among the richest nations in the world through the export of oil and therefore can also make larger inventions in sporting events. Through the religion of Islam combined with the authoritarian regimes , human rights in general, but above all freedom of religion , equality or even the rights of homosexuals, are severely endangered or even non-existent. Also beheadings and crucifixions be put into effect, methods which in the Western world are outlawed. By purchasing sporting events in your own country, you want to hide these grievances and, if necessary, create special permits for sporting events.

The term is relatively new and first became popular when Azerbaijan was chosen to host the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League final , but criticism of costly sporting events designed to improve the image of a state while neglecting other important state tasks for the population or even to cover them up, has been around for a long time, for example during the protests in Brazil in 2013 .

"You intend to attract the radiance of sport."

- Jürgen Mittag : The mirror

Examples

Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia , sporting events have been systematically bought up for years, be it football , wrestling , golf , tennis or motor sports . In 2020 alone, for example, the Dakar Rally , the Spanish Supercup and the Italian Supercup will take place there. Formula 1 races are to follow in 2021 . The plans for this drew sharp criticism.

Qatar

The World Athletics Championships took place in Qatar in 2019 , although the environmental conditions of the desert state spoke against it. Despite running marathons at night, many runners collapsed due to the heat.

"God forbid, people who run in such weather conditions could have died."

- Haile Gebrselassie : Der Tagesspiegel

In 2022, Qatar will host the World Cup .

Azerbaijan

The UK branch of Amnesty International has criticized Azerbaijan to host the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League final because of its human rights violations and called the hosting of the final "sportswashing the image".

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Benjamin Knaack: Washing cycle in the desert. In: Der Spiegel . January 5, 2020, accessed January 20, 2019 .
  2. ↑ 10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS IN SAUDI ARABIA. In: Amnesty International . July 30, 2019, accessed January 20, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Christoph Sydow: No kingdom for a woman. In: Der Spiegel . March 7, 2019, accessed January 20, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Saudi Arabia executes 37 people: 36 beheadings, one crucifixion. In: Focus Online . April 24, 2019, accessed January 20, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b The Saudi dream of the World Cup. In: derstandard.de. May 12, 2019, accessed January 20, 2020 .
  6. ^ Substitute religion. In: sueddeutsche.de . December 6, 2019, accessed January 20, 2020 .
  7. ↑ a b Supercup Spain: venue Saudi Arabia. In: sueddeutsche.de . Retrieved January 20, 2020 .
  8. ^ Saudi Arabia and Formula One discussing F1 race. In: reuters.com. August 6, 2019, accessed on January 20, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Christoph Sydow: guinea pig in the name of commerce. In: Der Spiegel . March 28, 2019, accessed January 20, 2020 .
  10. ↑ a b Christoph Dach: Athletics World Cup 2019 in Qatar: Lessons from the great void. In: tagesspiegel.de . October 4, 2019, accessed January 20, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Amnesty: don't let Azerbaijan hide human rights abuses behind football. In: theguardian.com. May 22, 2019, accessed January 20, 2020 .