Elliott Smith is Newstalk ZB and Gold Sport’s lead rugby commentator and reporter. He’s been a sports journalist since 2010 and has travelled to three Rugby World Cups.
An observation...
It’s time to wave the white flag. The reality of sports washing is the battle has been lost. Long ago. And those that still care about such things – holding sports events in regions where the human rights records are questionable but the money is plentiful - are a dwindling number. I – among others - don’t necessarily like it but have become ambivalent to it by the scale of it. Rugby has made themselves somewhat of an outlier by saying no to Qatari money. Others happily took the money and ran. Football World Cups in Qatar, UFC fights in Saudi Arabia and boxing too, F1, tennis, an entire golf tour backed by Saudi Arabian money – and so on. An Olympics bid is probably not far off. And it’ll probably win. Those sports haven’t suffered from a turn off. People still buy pay-per-views. The football World Cup was huge. It’s great to have a moral compass, it’s just fighting a losing battle.
An explanation...
And so, for rugby, in particular France and Ireland, who it’s understood were the two unions over the last fortnight to take a stand and reject the proposal for Qatar – both the country and the associated government-owned products (energy, airlines) – to sponsor and host the Nations Championship’s finals weekend from 2026 is noble.
A prediction...
However, it may have deepened financial sores for several national bodies that may not be recoverable from. Now, we don’t know for certain that the bid was rejected on sports washing or human rights grounds, but it’s unlikely they’ve said no on the belief they can get a better deal elsewhere. Because they won’t. The money won’t come out of the US or Europe to match the Qatari deal. They might win the hosting rights but the cash won’t stack up.
A question...
So, if everyone else has decided to bankroll their sports with the money, what real benefit is there for rugby other than being essentially left behind? Sports washing is hardly new either – it’s happened for years. Tours of South Africa while they were under apartheid rule come to mind. This isn’t to say that the systemic human rights abuses in those countries, the deaths of those building stadiums in Qatar for the World Cup, the slaughter of a journalist just doing his job in Saudi Arabia and other egregious issues should be ignored. But it just doesn’t move the needle.
A suggestion...
We have all become a part of it. We are part of the problem. Why not take the cash and just convince yourself you’re doing it for the good of the sport. Hold your nose and roll in the coin. Everyone else is doing it. I know this is where the old “If your friends were jumping off a cliff, would you do it?” question comes into play. And to be honest – if my friends (other sports) were jumping off a cliff into a pile of cash, I probably would too.
It’s great to have morals. And I realise this all sounds rather fatalistic. To borrow that a line from a viral tweet a few years ago, “Better things aren’t possible”. But if the consumer doesn’t care, who is the moral compass for? And are those running rugby doing it a disservice by trying to protect the soul of the sport and be some sort of arbiter of a standard that has long been cast aside?
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