FILE – Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales, left, and Saudi General Sport Authority GSA Chairman Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal take part in a press conference behind the Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, December 18, 2019. Facing criticism from human rights groups and worried Spanish media, the president of the Spanish football federation has defended the return of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia as Real Madrid prepare to face Athletic Bilbao in the final. Amnesty International had asked the four teams that traveled to participate in the mini-tournament to wear armbands to protest against the regime’s suppression of women’s rights and attacks on people from the LGBTQ community. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
PA
Barcelona, Spain
Facing criticism from human rights groups, the president of the Spanish football federation has defended the return of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia as Real Madrid prepare to face Athletic Bilbao in the of Sunday’s final.
Amnesty International had asked the four teams that went to the mini-tournament to wear armbands to protest against the suppression of women’s rights and attacks on the LGBTQ community in the country. Neither team made it in this week’s semi-finals, when Madrid beat Barcelona 3-2 in extra time and Bilbao overtook Atlético Madrid 2-1.
Federation president Luis Rubiales has insisted the decision to bring the new version of the Super Cup to the kingdom is both good for the money it brings to Spanish football – around 30 million euros ($34 million) a year until 2029 — and for what he called the baby steps he has promoted for Saudi women.
“We were the first to sign a contract that made it mandatory, if they wanted us to bring the Super Cup here, let women into the stadiums, and they’re there, and we’ve helped build a league women’s football in Saudi Arabia,” Rubiales told Cadena SER radio on Thursday night.
“Ethically, we do a lot here to help the development of women in soccer, that’s our commitment. The rest of the political issues are outside the scope of football.
While the women were at King Fahd Stadium for the semi-finals, the crowd was overwhelmingly male.
Radio host Cadena SER Àngels Barceló, whose morning show is followed by almost three million listeners in Spain, called the federation and the clubs hypocrites.
“No regime would pay millions of dollars for someone to come from abroad to change a regime that has no intention of changing itself,” Barceló said. “Spanish football is tarnished with this competition, as are the teams that participate in it. Afterwards, they will all have more money in the bank, but from now on, don’t let them talk to us about values and fair play.
Amnesty International believes there has been very little progress in return for helping the regime link up with some of the most prestigious clubs in the world. The human rights organization has criticized the systematic abuse of gay men and continued discrimination against women.
“The fact (is) that the Spanish football federation has decided to collaborate in this ‘whitewashing’ of the image of the Saudi authorities,” said Esteban Beltrán, president of Amnesty International in Spain.
“While we have seen progress in the last three years, such as the lifting of the ban on women driving and their chance to play sport, including the creation of a women’s football league, unfortunately the well-intentioned words of the President Rubiales in 2019 (that the Super Cup would help modernize Saudi Arabia) are far from a reality.
Asked about his position on Amnesty’s call for teams to wear the protest armbands, Rubiales complained that the rights group went public with its campaign days before sending the federation a written request for the purpose of creating an “uproar”.
So far, the only player to have spoken out against the organization of matches in Saudi Arabia is Bilbao striker Rául García. But he focused his criticism on the inability to play in front of his team’s fans. Bilbao’s win over Atlético drew a much smaller crowd than Wednesday’s clásico between Madrid and Barcelona.
The tournament was first played in Saudi Arabia in 2019 just before the pandemic hit. Health and travel restrictions forced the federation to bring it back to Spain last year, with Bilbao beating Madrid and Barcelona to lift the trophy.
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is in search of his first title in his second spell in charge of the Spanish league leaders. Ancelotti will be without defender Dani Carvajal, who tested positive for COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia on Friday. In-form striker Vinícius Júnior could be a doubt after a muscle problem necessitated his substitution against Barcelona.
Bilbao will once again be hoping to count on the Iñaki brothers and Nico Williams in attack and playmaker Iker Muniain.
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