December 29, 2020 – 4:45 Clock
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Jeddah (AP) – Before the start of the desert rally, Chalid bin Sultan al-Faisal, chairman of the SAMF motorsport association in Saudi Arabia, gave another solemn address.
The kingdom on the Persian Gulf is a “regional and international hub for motorsport” and has demonstrated its “ability to host global sports competitions,” said the prince in a video message. With this attitude Saudi Arabia invites you to the 43rd edition of the Dakar Rally, which will take place from January 3rd to 15th.
Fans are eagerly awaiting the start, because the 7,600-kilometer route across the Arabian Peninsula is tough. It leads from the coastal town of Jeddah first to the south, then via the capital Riyadh to the dunes of the Nafud desert in the north and finally back to Jeddah along the coast of the Red Sea. In January 2020, Saudi Arabia first brought the legendary race into the country after having been at home in South America for eleven years.
Rally director David Castera had spoken of a “journey into the unknown” when he moved to the Middle East in 2019. The criticism of the ultra-conservative kingdom was already known in previous years: Almost nowhere in the world are women’s and human rights so severely restricted as in Saudi Arabia. This was made clear to the world public at the latest with the brutal murder of the government-critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
“Sportswashing”, lament critics who accuse Saudi Arabia of polishing the image on the back of sport. With superstars and millions in salaries, the country wants to put itself in a friendlier light with the rally and other sporting events, so the allegation. Human Rights Watch believes that sponsors and broadcasters who finance and broadcast competitions are partly to blame. “Fans and spectators must look beyond the glamor of these events,” demanded the organization.
Under the de facto rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the authoritarian ruled desert state takes extreme harshness against critics. Any opposition to the government and the ruling family will be silenced, activists and bloggers have to fear arrest because of critical tweets. It was not until Monday that a more than five-year prison sentence was announced for the well-known activist Ludschain al-Hathlul, who had campaigned for an end to the ban on women’s driving.
In Saudi Arabia, 184 convicts were executed in 2019, as many people otherwise only in Iran and China. In neighboring Yemen, Saudi Arabia and allies bomb positions of the Houthi rebels, which are supported by Iran. The war triggered the worst humanitarian crisis in the world in the impoverished country.
The off-road spectacle in the desert is just the beginning. The internationally advertised sporting events in Saudi Arabia also included Formula E, golf tournaments and a boxing match in which Anthony Joshua became world heavyweight champion. The government in Riyadh is spending a lot of money on these events, which are part of the partial social opening. Boxer Joshua alone is said to have collected the equivalent of more than 65 million euros.
Saudi Arabia should also reach masses of fans in just under a year when the first Formula 1 race in the country takes place on November 28th. The world association Fia had given the approval for this in mid-December. The organization Amnesty International spoke of a “sustained attempt to clean up the catastrophic human rights record”. The country would then line up with well-known Formula 1 hosts such as Great Britain, Italy and Monaco.
At the very big party – the soccer World Cup, which will take place in Qatar in 2022 – the strictly Islamic monarchy has so far not been able to get involved. The government’s hopes of hosting some of the extended World Cup tournaments have been disappointed. The planned takeover of the English soccer club Newcastle United by a consortium with Saudi participation also failed – officially due to economic uncertainty caused by the corona pandemic.
An almost Olympic-like major event is already being planned, which was postponed in March 2020 only because of Corona: competitions in athletics, swimming, basketball and around 40 other sports should attract the onlookers to the “Saudi Games”. 6,000 athletes from all over the country are to take part.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201228-99-836132 / 2
Source: DPA
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