As the sun set beyond the vivid ruins of the ancient city of al-Diriyah, historic birthplace of the first Saudi state, and boxers, their entourages, local dignitaries and members of the media gathered for a pre-fight news conference on the rooftop of a plush hospitality suite on the outskirts of Riyadh this week, it was easy to forget.
Easy to forget the reasons why the ground-breaking backdrop for this weekend’s rematch between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr makes it one of the most controversial sporting contests in recent times.
Tempting to focus on what is undoubtedly a compelling sports story as one of Britain’s biggest stars bids to salvage his career, and recover from one of boxing’s greatest ever shocks.
Natural to be impressed by the scale of the vast entertainment complex in which the first heavyweight title fight in the Middle East will be staged, the speed at which the open-air arena for the bout has been built from scratch, and by the extraordinary ambition of the local organisers,
who insist putting on such shows is designed to get people more active, boost tourism and drive modernisation.
To avoid asking whether there is anywhere any longer that sport would not be prepared to go.
But that, of course, may be the idea.
From Olympics in China to football World Cups in Russia and Qatar, the Europa League final in Azerbaijan, and Formula 1 in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, a host of countries have long been accused of hosting sport to help furnish their image abroad, normalise their regimes, and divert
attention from questionable human rights records. As a form of ‘soft power’.
And nor is boxing alone in its particular choice of venue, with Formula E motor-racing, ATP Tour golf, WWE wrestling and the Italian Super Cup all recently being staged in Saudi Arabia as it pumps tens of billions of pounds into the sports sector.
Incredibly, over the next month alone, it will host the Dakar rally, the Spanish Super Cup, its first international tennis event, a leading equestrian festival, and the European Tour’s Saudi International golf tournament, although Rory McIlroy seems to have drawn a line in the sand with
this invite, and turned down almost £2m to appear.
But for many, the fact Joshua v Ruiz II is merely one of a growing list of sport events to be lured here is of little comfort.
“The whole world is watching with this one in a way that it hasn’t with previous sporting events there… it is probably the high-water mark in their whole ‘sportswashing’ process,” Amnesty International’s head of campaigns Felix Jakens told me last week at the human rights
organisation’s headquarters in London.
“There’s a reason the fight’s happening in Saudi Arabia – the authorities are keen to whitewash – or ‘sportswash’ – their tarnished international reputation.
“The reason for that reputation is well-deserved. They’ve got an appalling record on LGBT rights, women’s rights, extra-judicial killings, beheadings, the murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi last year, and their involvement in the ongoing conflict in Yemen.
“We’re not saying Anthony Joshua shouldn’t fight in Saudi Arabia. But while there he should use his public profile to speak about the situation in the country and raise the issue of human rights.”
When I put that to Joshua this week he defended his decision to come here, and insisted he had to focus on the fight, but did say that “for the future maybe I can bear a different kind of flag.”
Some will see Joshua as naive when he says he would “definitely be bothered” if he was being used to help improve the image of this country, and point to the £60m he is expected to earn from being here.
