SIMON JORDAN: We must stop selling our sporting soul to the Saudis, who have undermined free speech in this country and must respect our history and culture
I have never had and will never have a problem with different countries contributing to world sport, or creating their own sporting development and opportunities.
I don’t think we have the zeitgeist or the right to not allow others to sit at the top table and improve themselves. And we are not in a position to lecture others. We have our own problems.
Saudi dignitary Turki Alalshikh may have the right to invest in boxing, football or anything else on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for whatever reason.
However, I also have a great faith and value in this country and with that sense of national pride, I found it a little disconcerting to sit in our own Wembley Stadium on Saturday night and listen to the Saudi national anthem.
That doesn’t make me a little Englishman, there was no apparent reason for it. There were no Saudi fighters in action. Yes, the financier and eventual promoter of the event was Saudi, but I can’t imagine having a fight in Riyadh or Jeddah and having our national anthem played for a promoter. National anthems are for sports participants.
The Wembley showdown between Anthony Joshua (left) and Daniel Dubois (right) was the final event in ‘Riyadh Season’ – and the second night of fighting outside the Kingdom
Before the British national anthem was played for both fighters, the Saudi national anthem took centre stage
Turki Alalshikh has invested huge resources to turn Saudi Arabia into a boxing powerhouse
We allow our institutions to be bought off and increasingly those who benefit from it, in this case the great fight managers and promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn, sit by and justify it because it lines their own pockets.
I almost expected Frank and Eddie to be dressed in the traditional Saudi thawbs, they are so reverent.
They will no doubt try to dismiss my argument as coming from a ‘hater’, but I don’t like the idea that everything and everyone in this country is there just to be bought.
Although I consider myself a capitalist, I find it a bit tasteless that we seem so willing to give up our national soul for the right price.
I visited the country’s most iconic sports stadium, known all over the world and where our national sport is played, to see two British heavyweights, Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua. It felt like I was in the centre of Riyadh.
It was reverse cultural appropriation: bowing and cursing before a dignitary who represented money.
I worry about the core values in this country in general, we don’t seem to stand for anything and we run our society with a two-pronged approach or an attitude of appeasement which I think has caused a lot of problems. So I have to be honest about my own emotions on fight night, billed as Riyadh Season Card: Wembley edition. I was sitting there thinking ‘this doesn’t feel right’.
Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren have played a key role in bringing big names to Saudi Arabia
We later learned that a prominent journalist was banned from the fight for writing about what he saw as Saudi sportswashing. While I don’t agree with all of his views, it undermines our heritage of free speech, in our own country!
I have personally experienced censorship in Saudi Arabia and I think I will again after this article. TalkSport were banned from covering events there because I had the audacity to be part of a conversation suggesting that the atmosphere at their fights at the moment was not as great as in the traditional capitals of boxing, which it wasn’t!
Of course, a seat at the aforementioned top table brings with it both praise and criticism, whether you like it from a cultural perspective or not.
Their PR person turned around and complained that I was a xenophobe. Xenophobia, of course, has nothing to do with honest observation. I was just saying what was factually correct.
If that same PR genius suggested that the Saudi national anthem be played on Saturday night, I don’t know what to say. Perhaps the cheering around the stadium when it was played spoke volumes.
If we take Saudi Arabia’s money, or anyone’s money, they obviously expect certain things in return and I don’t blame them for trying to rebrand themselves perhaps around the world. It doesn’t offend me.
My greatest despair lies in the willingness to give up everything we get in return.
Boos rang out at a packed Wembley, which should give the organisers a verdict on their choice of the first national anthem
Everything we invent as a country seems to be adopted and improved by others. Sport is no different, as we see with the Premier League dominated by foreign owners.
I have always been clear about not preaching to other cultures about how they should and should not behave. I took that stance when I hosted the World Cup in Qatar, even though we found their belief systems and things like the illegality of homosexuality different to ours.
But we, and they, should also respect our history and culture. There must be certain things that are sacred.
The Saudi national anthem should not have been prominently featured at a sporting event at Wembley, not even for ‘Riyadh Season’. That was a step too far.
Newcomers must adapt or fail in the new era of the top division
Promoted sides Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton have played a combined 15 games this season, but have not won a single one.
If this continues, there will be a wider debate about whether the Premier League will become a closed club, after Burnley, Luton and Sheffield United were relegated again last season.
I’m not so sure. I firmly believe that the promoted teams have to do something to help themselves, above all.
I don’t see the point in trying to play a brand of football that the top teams can play before lunch. The business of the Premier League for newcomers is to stay in the Premier League, so why should they play Liverpool and Manchester City in a way that suits them better than you.
Southampton manager Russell Martin has admitted his team are too easy to play
Burnley suffered a terrible defeat in the Premier League last season after a great season in the Championship
Burnley paid the price last season and it is not noble of Saints manager Russell Martin to criticise his team for being too easy to play against.
His philosophy should be simple: three points. At the moment, the way his team plays to the opponents’ strengths is like a 12th and 13th man for them. He has to adapt.
Arsenal’s ‘dark arts’ tactics were clever – and addressing them should be City’s problem
To follow the boxing theme, the brilliant Lennox Lewis used appropriate tactics to overcome the opponent in front of him. The public was not immediately enthusiastic about him after the bloodthirsty Mike Tyson era, but Lennox’s mastery of tactics, ringcraft and science made him hugely successful.
So while I disagree with the hugely biased Martin Keown, I do agree that Arsenal did what they felt they needed to do to grab an important point at Manchester City on Sunday, despite the disadvantage of playing 56 minutes with a man down – which was their fault!
Mikel Arteta’s ‘dark arts’ tactics helped Arsenal secure a vital point away – and nearly take all three points
No one likes to see players rolling around claiming they are injured, but it is up to the referee to make sure that is correct. And it was also up to City to find a way to break down a stubborn defence.
Arsenal did what they could and what they could get away with. They are unbeaten in their last three games against City and the next clash is on their cards. They are showing a determination and steel that suggests the City monopoly really could end this season, which in my eyes is a good thing.