The warning signs were there after the World Cup when no one even confronted what had happened. Thousands dead who made the WC possible and not one footballer could be arsed to talk about those people and their families who are still struggling now.
They all trotted out the "the authorities agreed this, we're just doing our jobs line" and while it's tough for a player/manager who just wants to do their job, they could have spoken out.
There is however no excuse for taking the Saudi money and making yourself the public face of a vile regime, who execute the very community you claim to back is inexcusable.
I've no axe to grind with the Saudi people, my issue is with the rulers themselves. I'm not sure if my niece knows her sexuality yet, I'm not going to ask as that's up to her, but the thoughts of her being in danger in a country due to who she loves disgusts me.
I've only ever met any Saudis the once, I did a DBA course in 2006 in London and was paired with a lovely young woman from Jordan, dead friendly, dead chatty. Her dress was she wore a Hijab each day. There were two Saudi girls in the full Niqab, who when I initially spoke to them didn't answer me. The Jordanian was explaining that they followed a more strict version of Islam and were not allowed to wear anything but the Nijab and were not allowed to speak to me. I found this very uncomfortable. It also made the training difficult as they couldn't speak to the instructor, they did it all via the Jordanian and when they were struggling with the SQL, they would ask this girl who then asked me, I then answered in a loud enough voice for them to hear, but it still went via the Jordanian. They kept thanking me via this girl, very odd.
