Last September, Ahmed Gatnash, host of “The Arab Tyrant Manual” podcast and founder of the Kawaakibi Foundation, moderated a discussion with Human Rights Foundation Chairman and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, Areej Sadhan, sister of jailed Saudi dissident Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, and myself, on the Saudi regime’s investments in sports and entertainment to distract from its ongoing human rights abuses.
The panel discussion—part of the 2020 Oslo Freedom Forum—took place virtually due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, though still featured a wide range of interesting topics and perspectives on the subject at hand. The discussion ranged from the strategic use of sportswashing in authoritarian regimes, the importance of soft power strategies, and the role of sports fans in helping propagate authoritarian narratives within sports.
For years, I have reported on the intersection of sports and politics, specifically, identifying incidents where despotic and tyrannical regimes use sports to advance their goals, whether it be distracting from human rights abuses, re-branding themselves as progressive states, or even as a form of diplomacy between various nations.
The panel discussion has since been made available below:
Video:
Audio: