The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 21st January 2022
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 21st January 2022
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Top tennis players are not known for championing human rights unless their own personal liberty is threatened. Look at Novak Djokovic, the vain anti-vaxxer who even claimed he was upholding free speech and human rights during his failed bid to remain in Australia to defend his title in the Australian Open.
So it was good to see another more modest man, Andy Murray, turn down immense amounts of Saudi money when he refused to take part in exhibition matches in the feudal Arab kingdom because of “what’s gone on” in the country over human rights issues.
The Saudis have recently hosted football, Formula One, boxing and golf events which have been fiercely criticised by groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for attempting to white-wash the House of Saud’s reputation on the international stage - a a practice now known as ‘sports washing’.
Although Murray was offered up to £1.5 million to play in Saudi Arabia, the Scottish world champion insists he is not interested in the “eye-watering sums of money” on offer from the autocratic kingdom that persecutes gay people and treats women as chattels.