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
Abstract
This thesis examines how authoritarian states use sport and esports to influence international reputation, taking Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 as a critical case of sportswashing. It conceptualizes sportswashing as a relational, regime-specific form of soft power in which investments in clubs, events and game publishers seek to divert attention from illiberal practices and depend on cooperation from Western sports institutions. The guiding research question asks how such techniques change Western audiences’ views of autocracies. Methodologically, the study uses theory-testing process tracing across six key milestones (from the launch of Vision 2030 to the inaugural Esports World Cup), drawing on documents, media and NGO reports as well as secondary indicators from YouGov and Brand Finance. It tracks both affective fan responses and structural–institutional entanglements across sport and esports. The findings show recurring spikes in visibility and deeper institutional ties around Saudi initiatives but only modest and uneven improvements in reputation; perceptions related to human rights and governance remain constrained. The thesis concludes that Saudi sportswashing reshapes the conditions under which reputational judgments are formed rather than straightforwardly cleaning the kingdom’s image, and it offers a transferable, mechanism-based framework for analyzing similar strategies in sport and esports.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan autoritære stater bruger sport og esport til at påvirke deres internationale omdømme, med Saudi-Arabien under Vision 2030 som et kritisk casestudie. Afhandlingen konceptualiserer sportswashing som en relationsbåret, regimespecifik form for soft power, hvor investeringer i klubber, events og spiludgivere søger at aflede opmærksomheden fra illiberale praksisser og forudsætter samarbejde fra vestlige sportsinstitutioner. Forskningsspørgsmålet er, hvordan sådanne teknikker ændrer billedet af autokratier blandt vestlige offentligheder. Metodisk anvendes en teoritestende forløbsanalyse af seks nøglemilepæle (fra Vision 2030’s lancering til den første Esports World Cup), baseret på dokumenter, medier og NGO-rapporter samt sekundære indikatorer fra YouGov og Brand Finance. Analysen følger både følelsesmæssige effekter på fans og strukturelle-institutionelle bindinger i sportens og esportens økosystemer. Resultaterne viser tilbagevendende synlighedstoppe og dybere institutionel indlejring omkring saudiske initiativer, men kun beskedne og ujævne forbedringer i omdømmet; opfattelser af menneskerettigheder og styring forbliver begrænsende. Konklusionen er, at saudisk sportswashing i højere grad omstrukturerer betingelserne for, hvordan omdømmevurderinger dannes, end den enkelt renser rigets image, og specialet tilbyder en overførbar, mekanismebaseret ramme til at analysere lignende strategier på tværs af sport og esport.
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