A leading Saudi Arabian human rights campaigner has told Newcastle supporters that enjoying the team’s current success and protesting against the kingdom’s often brutal autocracy are not mutually exclusive.
During a meeting in the city organised by the pressure group NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing, Lina al-Hathloul told an audience of around two dozen that challenging the Saudi regime over human rights abuses “can bring change” and it is possible to “both be happy about Newcastle winning and criticise what is happening in Saudi”.
Hathloul’s sister, Loujain, is a former political prisoner in the kingdom and, as St James’ Park prepares to stage two international friendlies involving Saudi Arabia, Lina urged supporters of the majority Saudi-owned club to start making their concerns about the regime plain.
“They should not underestimate the power one word can have,” said Hathloul who suggested that fans might start unfurling homemade banners, or even small placards, bearing the names of alleged victims of Saudi human rights abuses during matches. “The fans have power. Even having a banner at a match which says ‘Free Salma al-Shehab’ – a PHD student at Leeds University sentenced to 27 years imprisonment for tweeting – can have an impact.
“At the moment the Saudis are still in a phase where image is important to them They care about their imageand they do as much as they can to cover things up. Fans speaking about things, tweeting about violations can have an impact. For my sister, it worked, there was so much pressure that they released her.”
Loujain was the catalyst of the movement which saw the ban on women driving in the kingdom lifted in 2018 but, in that same year, she was kidnapped from the streets of her then home in the United Arab Emirates, flown to Saudi Arabia, “forcibly disappeared” and tortured. Hathloul said Loujain was subjected to electric shocks and waterboarded.
After a subsequent imprisonment in Saudi for 1,001 days for allegedly contravening counter-terrorism law, concerted international campaigning helped secure her release in 2021. Even so, Loujain and her wider family continue to live under strict restrictions, most notably a travel ban which prevents them leaving Saudi Arabia.
“Because of my sister, Newcastle is very personal for me,” said Hathloul. “I think we can bring change with the Newcastle fans saying they will pressure for things to get better in Saudi. Speak about Salma, speak about travel bans, speak about execution and be public about all that. The Saudis will listen. In the end, they will have to.”
Hathloul is head of advocacy and monitoring at ALQST, a prominent Saudi human rights group, but she met resistance and nervousness when she attempted to meet with local MPs and councillors during her trip to Tyneside. “Almost all of them were worried about being seen with me,” she claimed.
Newcastle United maintain that its 80% owners, the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, is a separate entity from the Saudi state but Hathloul demurred. Nonetheless she believes building relationships with her home country can instigate change.
“I believe a narrative of building bridges and footballers going to Saudi [to play in the newly high-profile league] can have a positive impact,” she said. “But if, once they are there, they don’t speak up they are just part of the PR campaign. If people think of a footballer when they think about Saudi Arabia and not about executions or Loujain, then they aren’t having a positive impact.
“At the moment Saudi is not reforming. It’s a brutal dictatorship. People have to understand everything is covered up, no one can speak. By staying silent, people are accepting and enabling Mohammed bin Salman [Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and de facto ruler]. It’s not just green lighting, it’s enabling. If we don’t do something now, tomorrow it will backfire. It’s very dangerous to enable someone like MBS.”
NUFC against Sportswashing will stage a protest outside St James’ Park on Friday night when Saudi Arabia’s new manager, the former Manchester City and Italy head coach Roberto Mancini, leads his side out against Costa Rica. On Tuesday Mancini’s team meet South Korea at the same venue. Both matches are warm-ups for January’s Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar.
“I love my national football team but Saudi Arabia is using Newcastle as a tool,” said Hathloul. “They are normalising relations with the UK without [providing] any transparency. Newcastle is like a giant billboard for Saudi Arabia.”
