The criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses is well deserved. But the accusation of sportswashing misses the bigger picture.
Sports
The stakes are high heading into the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, not only for the International Olympic Committee, which needs to reset the narrative around the burden of hosting the Games, but also French President Emmanuel Macron, who is trying to boost France’s leadership of Europe in the emerging post-American world.
FIFA has gone to great lengths to keep soccer and politics separate, and in the past has applied the same apolitical facade to both the men’s and women’s game. In recent years, though, and especially following the 2019 edition of the tournament, the Women’s World Cup has become an event in which politics is a part of its brand.
