Spanish soccer has found an economic cushion in Saudi Arabia that it does not want to part with. The second celebration of the Super Cup in said Middle Eastern country is the ratification of the importance for this venue even though it is 4,900 kilometers away from Madrid and despite the fact that criticism continues to fall for issues such as distance and faults to human rights.
Atlético de Madrid as LaLiga champion, Real Madrid as runner-up, Barcelona as monarch of the Copa del Rey and Athletic de Bilbao as runner-up, are the four participants for the 2022 edition, which returns to Saudi territory after a 2021 edition held in Andalusia for pandemic issues. The fans are upset by the remoteness of the venue, but also the footballers have been dissatisfied.
“For me it doesn’t make sense to go there to play a championship that belongs to our country (Spain). Soccer has changed because we no longer think about the fan, we have forgotten the basics, now sponsorships are worth and generate (money). We have forgotten to enjoy family and comfortable schedules for everyone, I feel sorry for them ”, criticized Raúl García, Athletic Bilbao midfielder, one of the four participating teams for the 2022 edition.
The Super Cup will be held on January 12, 13 and 16 at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the second time in history after the celebration of the 2020 edition, before the covid-19 pandemic. The first contract established that the tournament would be played in that country for the 2020 and 2021 editions, but the confinement postponed the second to 2022.
According to information from El Larguero, the organization of this tournament leaves an annual profit of 40 million euros for Spanish football: 20 million are distributed among the four participants (12 for the winner) and the other 20 go for an equitable distribution It covers up to the four main divisions of the country.
In this way, Cadena Ser explains, a third-rate Spanish club earns about 145,000 euros a year, which represents 325% more than it earned before the Super Cup was held in Saudi Arabia. For a fourth division club, it is a profit of about 55,000 euros per year, 550% more.
Starting in 2021, Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) confirmed that the Super Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia until 2029 after a renewal that would leave up to 360 million euros in the Iberian coffers. For the manager, it is a valuable success.
“We have come here for business, since our obligation is to receive the more income the better. I am happy and satisfied. This format is a success and no one can doubt it. There are other countries interested in changing their Super Cup and making it like ours. All the presidents and coaches have told me that it was a success. The players, too, so things have not gone so bad, “he said in an interview for the radio station COPE in 2020.
One of the justifications that Rubiales gave in 2019 for taking the Super Cup to the Middle East was that this tournament would serve to improve the conditions of equality with respect to women, who have historically suffered violations of their human rights in Saudi Arabia.
“The RFEF’s mission is as follows: there are countries with inequalities. In this situation, we can turn our back on them or not. The income we make in those countries we could get elsewhere, but we can try to help the men and women who live in them. In Saudi Arabia, the contract states that women will have the same access to matches as men and we also oblige the creation of several women’s competitions there. All this has been possible thanks to our contribution ”.
Indeed, means like The country Y Mark They have reported that women experienced a very different situation with the arrival of the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, as they were able to enter the stadium without restrictions that marginalized them to specific areas for them, something that does not usually happen. They were also allowed to mix with men and some without wearing the nicab (veil) that covers their heads.
But the questions point to see if this situation could remain in Saudi Arabia when the Spanish clubs and the international press leave: “The restrictions now are more by custom than by law prohibition. These bans were repealed a few months ago. There are already new restaurants that have been built without restricted areas. Since the crown prince, Mohamed bin Salman, took power, there have been important changes in Arabia, but we have to go little by little, it is not easy, there are people who agree and others who do not, “said a couple of restaurant employees. to El País during the 2020 Super Cup.
Amnesty International is one of the closest vigilantes to the Super Cup in Saudi territory. For the 2022 edition, it sent purple bracelets to both the RFEF and the four participating clubs to use as a symbol of protest against the human rights violations of women and the LGBT + community in that country.
“Although in the last three years we have witnessed some progress, such as the lifting of the driving ban or the possibility of practicing sports, including the creation of a women’s league in Saudi Arabia, unfortunately, the good words of President Luis Rubiales in 2019 are a long way from having become a reality. It is a fact that defending equality in that country is something very risky for women, as evidenced by the sentences imposed on women activists such as Loujain al-Hathloul or Nassima al-Sada. For this reason, whether with this bracelet that we propose to them, or in whatever way they consider, we ask that this edition of the Super Cup highlight the important role of Saudi women activists ”, exclaimed Esteban Beltrán, director of Amnesty International in Spain.
For Amnesty International, the situation against women and the LGBT + community is just as serious as in Qatar, which has also been criticized on its way home at the next World Cup later this year.
“A few weeks ago the world of sport was outraged by the express prohibition of displays of affection among homosexual people who attend the next World Cup in Qatar. Well, we will not see many in this Super Cup either, since in the country where it is played, homosexuality is punishable by jail terms and adultery even carries penalties of flogging. We do not ask the teams not to play in Saudi Arabia, or the fans not to follow this tournament, but we do trust that a gesture of solidarity towards those who suffer daily repression in the country can make visible and denounce their precarious situation ” Esteban Beltrán denounced.
One of the advantages that the RFEF received in 2020 despite the pandemic and that the entire sports world stopped starting in March was precisely the celebration of the Super Cup in Saudi territory. The RFEF was able to close that year with a turnover of 230.66 million euros, 10.7% more than in 2019, although far from the 255 million they had as an expectation. For this reason, the financial cushion that Saudi Arabia represents for Spanish football continues to be a stronger voice than criticism.
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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx