First the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came for golf, and I did not speak out, because it’s for men named Chad who want to network while supporting the manufacturers of boat shoes. Then Saudi Arabia came for Newcastle United, and I did not speak out, because frankly it was Newcastle United. Actually, Saudi Arabia already had Formula One racing, but that was a natural fit between those who produce oil and the pastime that most conspicuously torches it. By the time they came for Cristiano Ronaldo he too seemed largely made of hydrocarbon polymer, though he is biodegrading faster.
Now Saudi Arabia is coming for cricket – just another step in the grandest sportswashing campaign in history. The country is an autocratic monarchy run on the fundamentalist principles of Wahhabist Islam. Laws of ‘guardianship’ mean that women cede control of their lives to male relatives. The legal system uses prison, torture or execution against political dissent and anyone outside proscribed sexual or gender norms. The Saudi-led war in Yemen killed hundreds of thousands. The engine driving all this is Saudi Aramco, the biggest oil company in the world, the single biggest driver of our climate crisis, source of over 4% of global carbon emissions since 1965. Its only plan for the future is to increase production.
