Sports Washing: So Hot Even Warloads are Doing It

‘Sportswashing’ is a term used by people of one political paradigm to accuse the leading actors of a different political paradigm of hiding their corruption/authoritarian methods/human rights violations behind a major sports event. I.e. those dastardly foreigners are in the business of ‘cleaning up’ their tawdry image through an association with the innocence and universal appeal of sport.

However, there is no actual crime called ‘Sportswashing’, and its very existence is completely and utterly subjective. It’s similar to the U.S. concept of ‘impeachment’ which former U.S. President Gerald Ford described as being ‘whatever the majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.’ Thus, the United States might accuse Qatar of sportswashing their poor human rights record for migrant workers by hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, yet the U.S. itself is known to detain political prisoners without trial at Guantánamo Bay. Qatar could just as easily accuse the U.S. of sportswashing their own human rights record with the Super Bowl!

Kicking controversy into touch

Yet it does seem to exist. Football in particular has long been a bastion of sportswashing with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich buying Chelsea to launder any links to his homeland’s criminal underworld. Similarly, Manchester City is owned by Sheikh Mansour of the UAE, Newcastle United by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Paris Saint-Germain by Qatar Sports Investments, which is backed by the Qatari state. All nations with little to no football history, yet plenty of murky activities to smooth over such as the alleged murder and dismembering of journalist Jamal Khashoggi purportedly on the orders of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.

On the other hand, King Rama X of Thailand has also been accused of sportswashing due to his rumoured link to ownership of Reading FC in the Championship. Whilst the King is not on the ownership books, it is alleged that others have his interests in their names. But if he is not overtly owning the team then how can this be sportswashing? Surely, he is just a genuine football fan with far too much money and power. You may as well accuse Ryan Reynolds of buying his interest in Wrexham FC to sportswash his performance in the Green Lantern!

Why do they do it?

Sportswashing has come into being simply because, in the minds of most people; PR = Lying. We’ve heard so many falsehoods from politicians, spin doctors, scientific ‘experts’ and even advertising over the years – we’ve learned to take everything they say with a pinch of salt. And this is even before all the bots and paid opinion stooges first opened their social media accounts!
So even if Christopher Luxon’s chief press secretary Finn Stichbury or White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (or Karine Jean-Pierre, Jen Psaki or Kayleigh McEnany for that matter) read out passages from the Gospel of Mark, no one would believe them for a second. Obviously just a ruse to cover up yet more crimes and/or grift!

Hmm, if only there was another better ‘soft power’ way to cover up our crimes and/or grift…

From Chelsea to Riyadh to… Chechnya?

Perhaps the most surprising convert to sportswashing is Chechnyan warlord/de facto ruler Ramzan Kadyrov. If you’re Chechnyan, he’s a really, really bad guy to get on the wrong side of as his regime is notable for three things: authoritarianism, human rights abuses, and a hardcore cult of personality. If there was ever any doubt as to who is in charge here, Ramzan’s private Kadyrovtsy militia use a combination of patronage, repression, and torture to upkeep the ‘peace’ in this Muslim enclave of Russia.

But Kadyrov is also the kind of guy Chechnya itself needs to survive in Putin the Great’s Empire – as even the Death Troll himself seems to need Ramzan’s help in holding Ukraine and in keeping his own Russian army in check. Plus, Putin really needs Kadyrov to keep Chechnya calm and dutiful as the absolute last thing Vladimir needs right now is for more wild separatist nonsense from this most troublesome republic. In return, Chechnya is heavily subsidized by Russia which is handy for a federal region totally devastated by over 200 years of war spent largely failing to expel the latter.

Because of all this constantly flaring war, poverty and suffering, Chechnya ranks very, very low on the list of countries even the most intrepid of adventurers would like to visit – or even trade with. Perhaps it’s time to apply some national make-up to try and entice them all back?

Acting on inspiration

Inspired by his fellow Muslim states’ raging success in football, Kadyrov decided to try his hand in sportswashing Chechnya’s woes by proudly entering his own steed Mourilyan in the 2009 Melbourne Cup. Cue incessant protests by animal and human rights groups across the globe that took some of the gloss off his hobnobbing with his rich and powerful peers. Nor did these protests go away over the years neither so finally Ramzan gave it up.

Instead, he decided to switch from the pansy sport of horseracing to the far more manly pursuit of Mixed Martial Arts. This is a sport that demands many Muslim-friendly attributes from its athletes such as iron discipline, self-sacrifice, humility, family values and adherence to a moral code (at least in theory, Conor McGregor!). It was also insanely popular in the neighbouring fellow Muslim-dominant Russian republic of Dagestan as well as in nearby Christian-dominant Georgia.

Plus, it was also the sport through which the Dagestani-proud Khabib Nurmagomedov had become a global icon through his unbeaten record and reputation as a principled man due to his retiring to honour a promise to his mother. Khabib was also seen as a Warrior for Islam due to his embodiment of religious values and his inspirational promotion of the positive attributes of the faith. In MMA athletes, what better role models could Ramzan find to help him sportswash Chechnya to the world?

Khamzat Chimaev

Especially as Chechnya had their own emerging Khabib in Khamzat Chimaev. Growing up in Chechnya during the war, Khamzat had had some success wrestling there but when he turned 18 his family fled the war-torn country for Sweden. So, though it was in Europe that Khamzat made his name in MMA, he still felt Chechnyan and starting going back often to his homeland.
Here, unsurprisingly, he fell under the influence of Ramzan Kadyrov who had wholly gone all-in on the sport bringing in big American UFC names like Justin Gaethje and Henry Cejudo to come and hang out in Chechnya as a promotional piece. Khamzat’s social media posts increasingly began showing pics of him hanging out with Kadyrov and even sparring with Ramzan’s son.
Life was good… but at what cost? All of a sudden, Khamzat just couldn’t land any more U.S. visas due to their sanctions on Kadyrov, so was forced to fight largely in the Middle East although he was allowed into Sydney for UFC 312.

Warlords will be warlords

Though some may say Ramzan is being unjustly victimised by the U.S. State Department, he really doesn’t help himself. In fact, for all of his sportswashing Ramzan is operating like an anti-Khabib for Muslims in the sport of MMA – undoing all of the good the great man has done.

Firstly, Chechen human rights group VAYFOND and Dagestani news agency NIYSO have alleged that Ramzan’s son Adam killed two people in a car accident while high on crystal methamphetamine. Abdul-Kerim Edilov, former UFC fighter and good buddy enough of Kadyrov to be Chechnya’s Vice-Premier and Minister of Sports, was supposed to be keeping an eye on Adam at the time. Strangely enough, Abdul-Kerim died ‘under mysterious circumstances’ soon after in December 2022.

Also, Fedor Emelianenko’s daughter was reportedly hospitalised after an attack in Moscow immediately after her father, and Russian MMA Union President, publicly criticized Kadyrov for allowing his young sons to participate in an MMA tournament they weren’t even supposed to be allowed to attend as spectators. Co-incidence? We think not.

Not a solution for all

Sportswashing is a strategic tool used by states and organisations to reshape public perception through the universal appeal of sports. But sportswashing is a soft power, it’s not a potent solution. You really have to want to change yourself – then all the sportswashing can really do is hasten the transformation of your perception in the public’s mind. That’s why some sportswashes are air swings, like Donald Trump taking his ugly mug along to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. Or they can be successful, viz the Beijing Olympics of 2008 and Abramovich at Chelsea, Roman can’t be all THAT bad – he did bring Didier Drogba to Stamford Bridge!

But if you’re a nasty, nasty piece of work like Ramzan Kadyrov who is unwilling to change his ways for anybody, then no amount of sportswashing is ever going to cleanse your soul.