Anthony Joshua v Andy Ruiz Jr: Saudis defend hosting fight after claims of 'sportswashing'
The fight has been criticised due to the Middle Eastern country's human rights record.
Friday 6 December 2019 16:42, UK
The man responsible for bringing the Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr fight to Saudi Arabia has defended hosting the event in the country.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Saud, chairman of the country's General Sports Authority and a member of the ruling House of Saud, told Sky News mistakes had been made in the past but they were making progress on human rights.
British boxer Joshua is set to earn a projected £60m from his rematch with Ruiz, a world title fight, with the Mexican-American taking home around £10m.
Prince Abdulaziz has been charged with transforming the image of Saudi Arabia through sport.
The country will make a financial loss by hosting the fight, but Prince Abdulaziz suggested it was just the start of Saudi Arabia hosting major sporting events.
"If you just gauge it financially, it's the wrong perception," he said.
"The social change has no price.
"The excitement and awareness we're going to spread from this fight and to give the chance for Saudis to watch this fight is our aim."
The Saudi prince has been given a mandate by the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to increase their profile at elite level, as well as increase participation in sport in a country which has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world.
"We want to host as many events as we can, to feed our strategy and promote diverse sports in the kingdom," he said.
"You don't see much of a boxing culture in the kingdom as in the UK.
"We're showcasing that hopefully if we do bid for them one day, we can host an Olympics or a football World Cup."
The 15,000-seater Diriyah Arena, located on the outskirts of the capital Riyadh and in the birthplace of the Saudi state, will host the fight on Saturday night.
It was built in just 47 days and women will be able to attend the fight unaccompanied, a result of drastic social reforms in the country over the past two years.
Those changes have included women being allowed to drive for the first time and attend music concerts.
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But there are still many areas of social life, including many swimming pools and fitness centres, that are unavailable to women.
Prince Abdulaziz claimed Saudi women were getting more opportunities in sport and wider society.
"Only two years ago, they weren't allowed to do any sport and now there are dedicated places," he said.
"We have to respect what the people want and the culture they have.
"So we want change, positive change, but we have to make sure it's done in the right way so we don't offend anyone."
Amnesty International says the fight, which is part of a series of major sporting events, is an attempt to "sportswash" the country's human rights abuses.
Felix Jakens, Amnesty's head of campaigns, told Sky News: "The murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the war in Yemen, the imprisonment and torture of women's rights activists are all incredibly serious human rights violations and they have a damaged international reputation.
"They are using sport to try and launder that image and this is probably the high water mark in those efforts."
But Prince Abdulaziz said they were making efforts to reform.
"We do have mistakes like any other country but there are changes," he said.
"Social changes that are happening that we're driving towards and hopefully things will get better as we move on, and we are learning as well."
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, the managing director of Matchroom Sport, secured Anthony Joshua the biggest payday in British boxing history and is unapologetic about the decision to take the fight to Saudi Arabia.
"I don't want to push it onto other people and say the WWE do it, the PGA tour do it, Formula 1 do it with Formula E, [Rafael] Nadal and [Roger] Federer do it, but they do," he said.
"And a lot of those are bigger organisations than ourselves.
"But boxing's different, it's a fight sport and it's the most brutal and dangerous sport out there and ultimately they will fight wherever they get the most money possible.
"If I don't help get my fighters the best deal, I'm out of a job."