Reputation Laundering Through Sport and Esport: Evaluating Saudi Arabia's Sportswashing Strategy Under Vision 2030
Author
Varga, Alexandr
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-05-28
Pages
80
Abstract
This thesis examines Saudi Arabia’s use of sport and esports under Vision 2030 as a paradigmatic case of sportswashing and asks how such strategies reshape Western perceptions of autocracies. It conceptualizes sportswashing as a regime-specific, relational form of soft power in which non-democratic states invest in clubs, events and publishers to distract from illiberal domestic practices, contingent on cooperation from Western sports institutions. Using theory-testing process tracing across six milestones (the announcement of Vision 2030, the Clash on the Dunes boxing event, the takeover of Newcastle United, the launch of LIV Golf and the signing of Jon Rahm, the 2023 Saudi Pro League transfer blitz, and the inaugural Esports World Cup in 2024), the study tracks affective and structural-institutional mechanisms through documents, media and NGO reports, and draws on secondary indicators such as YouGov and Brand Finance. It finds recurring spikes in visibility and deeper institutional entanglement but only modest and uneven improvements in reputation, with perceptions of human rights and governance remaining constrained. The thesis concludes that Saudi sportswashing restructures the conditions under which reputational judgments are formed rather than straightforwardly cleaning the kingdom’s image, and offers a transferable, mechanism-based framework for analyzing similar strategies in sport and esports.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan Saudi-Arabien bruger sport og esport under Vision 2030 som et paradigmatisk eksempel på sportswashing, og spørger, hvordan sådanne strategier omformer vestlige opfattelser af autokratier. Sportswashing begrebsliggøres som en regimespecifik, relationel form for soft power, hvor ikke-demokratiske stater investerer i klubber, events og udgivere for at aflede opmærksomheden fra illiberale praksisser – afhængig af samarbejde med vestlige sportsinstitutioner. Metodisk anvendes teoritestende proces-tracing på seks nøglebegivenheder (bl.a. lanceringen af Vision 2030, boksekampen Clash on the Dunes, overtagelsen af Newcastle United, lanceringen af LIV Golf og signingen af Jon Rahm, Saudi Pro League-transferoffensiven i 2023 og den første Esports World Cup i 2024). Analysen følger affektive og strukturelle-institutionelle mekanismer gennem dokumenter, medier, NGO-rapporter og sekundære indikatorer som YouGov og Brand Finance. Resultaterne viser gentagne synlighedstoppe og dybere institutionel indlejring, men kun beskedne og ujævne forbedringer i omdømmet, hvor vurderinger af menneskerettigheder og styreformer forbliver begrænsende. Afhandlingen konkluderer, at saudisk sportswashing primært omstrukturerer de betingelser, hvorunder omdømmedommer dannes, snarere end entydigt at rense kongedømmets image, og tilbyder en mekanismebaseret ramme, der kan overføres til analyser af lignende strategier i sport og esport.
[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]