I guess the fundamental question is, does a player’s decision to play in a country, or specifically to take the money of a state, endorse that state’s behaviour? And if so, how? Does Bobby playing in Saudi Arabia change people’s perception of the country? Does it make people more forgiving of their human rights abuses? Does it change the likelihood of their behaviour changing in the future? Does the Saudi Arabian League’s strength effect these factors?
I think it’s very hard to know what the answers are to these questions. I don’t think anyone on this forum views the Saudi Arabian league positively, but of those who are less critical of the league’s sudden change in behaviour, I think the view is that it has no impact on the human rights issue in the country. I think many people with negative views towards see the impact as a growth in the soft power of the country to distract people or dissuade them from criticism.
I don’t really know where I sit on it. I’d like to think such moves have no impact but perhaps they do, and perhaps that risk is enough to mean we should be critical of these moves. I think the impact of the situation is hard enough to discern to allow people some leeway on the subject particularly as nobody is trying to support their despotic regime with their views.
That being said, I don’t think people should fall into dismissing the severity of their human rights abuses with comparisons to other nations present or historic atrocities. They are a nation run by people who are plainly evil, in the most brutal and abhorrent ways, a fact they show over and over again, hiding behind that most deceitful of veils, religion. They abuse people’s hopes, fears, wishes and beliefs for power and wealth, keeping hold of it through sheer brutality. What anyone else has done doesn’t matter, it’s what they have done that matters.
No matter what their intentions for bringing Bobby to play there, or for promoting their league, just like I hope happened to some extent with the Qatar World Cup, I hope that their involvement in our game points a spotlight on their actions and the society they preside over. If their pursuit of further power, wealth or ego-inflation helps people understand more what happens within their borders, then perhaps perversely this move from them will play a small part in their eventual undoing. That might be me trying to be blindly hopeful though.
As for how it impacts football, I have less opinions and cares about that. They’re a wealthy league and that will attract players and managers to them, because people believe they deserve to be compensated for their talents and their work to the maximum degree. In a pure footballing context it’s no different from players moving to the MLS. What makes it different is the context of the country they’re moving to and the source of the money they’re taking.
As I’ve said, I don’t know what impact any of it will have, whereas I do know the joy that both the RF number 9s have given me (Bobby and Robbie), so I’ll prioritise those thoughts when I think about and judge them. Perhaps that makes me part of the issue, or a selfish individual, but I just don’t have the strength or energy to hate these people I’ve so loved.
