Kicking up a US$10 billion sporting storm

Sports fans have seen plenty of surprises this summer.

Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon,

ending years of domination of tennis by the trio of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. In golf, the victors of the US Open and Britain’s Open were outsiders who were given odds of winning of 1 per cent or less. On Aug 6 the all-conquering US women’s football team

crashed out of the World Cup

after Sweden scored a winning penalty. The ball crossed the goal line by only a few millimetres.

Yet the biggest shock has been off the field, as Saudi Arabia has barged into the sports industry. Pumped up on petrodollars and desperate to reinvent itself under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), its 37-year-old de facto ruler, it has spent US$10 billion (S$13.5 billion) on players, teams and leagues, upending golf and football. That has upset Western fans, activists and politicians, who see it as “sportswashing” human-rights abuses, and complain about the desecration of the hallowed trophies of sport.