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Sunderland will face Saudi Arabian opposition Al Shabab in Friendly (poll in Parsnip)


Guinness Guzzler said:
When they had the supporter collective meeting they mentioned that a game had fallen through so they still weren't certain on the date of the friendly or the opposition. Tbh having booked everything to be there that week, and given the relatively late change of plan, there might not have been many options. There might be some PL sides there, but their break is longer so they probably wouldn't be looking to do a friendly at the same time as us. That doesn't make the decision to play a Saudi side right at all mind, you'd think someone would have realised how it would look and how it would be received. I've brought it up with RAWA and would assume they'll communicate to the club that it is an almost universally unpopular decision (and plenty others will have been in touch with the club independently).
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Cheers - the club need to know this is a very very bad decision.

I love my football club but we should not be endorsing sports washing terrorists and murderers.

Every football supporter would like a successful football team - but the vast majority of decent supporters would not want that at the expense of decency and human rights. However there is one fan base who haven’t got any morals.
 
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McGregor said:
Some of the reaction is very over the top here mind. Getting some good minutes under the belts of our players just returning from injury.

All for it me.
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They could ship some of us out there to give the lads a game - the standard won’t be that different and we wouldn’t be endorsing terrorises snd murderers.

The Saudi state should be treated as international pariahs.
 
sonson said:
Its not ostensibly to promote the Saudi regime no. But it has exactly the same effect. Its all part of a massive PR operation, which our Government have been supporting for years now, of sanitising a murderous, tyrannical regime by appealing to Western sensibilities in the, sadly correct, belief that they can buy our acceptance with cultural incentives. Newcastle are the obvious example, but this is another part of the same thing. To make conversations like this one happen, where certain people will separate the country from its behaviour because they like the thing in question being discussed. In reality even though its only a football game, it's going to be one funded by blood money.
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I don't want this to happen and had hoped the club would never do this but from our clubs point of view it's a quickly arranged game out of convenience.
 
Thunder Road said:
I don't want this to happen and had hoped the club would never do this but from our clubs point of view it's a quickly arranged game out of convenience.
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No from our clubs point of view they're complicit with a Saudi charm offensive designed to take away focus from their human rights abuse and warmongering. And we said yes to it.

Does that make us supporters of what they're doing? Course not

Does it play into their hands and help them continue to do the despicable things they do? Of course it does. That's the whole reason they've done it, and we're just nodding along.
 
ilovehorswill said:
This thread certainly hasn’t gone as they’d hoped

“I look forward to the contortions of Sunderland fans explaining how it isn’t the same / it isn’t as bad as the situation at Newcastle United.”

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I can’t, read that article.

Whoever, wrote it needs to learn how to use, commas.

Fuckin, hell man
 
sonson said:
So one offs are OK presumably
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Plying a low profile friendly against a team from Saudi is not the same as being a pawn for the Saudi regime. Okay, oppose it by all means, but it’s genuinely concerning if people cannot see the difference. It’s the typical Mag ploy of whataboutery to try and cleanse themselves.
 
Safc98 said:
Plying a low profile friendly against a team from Saudi is not the same as being a pawn for the Saudi regime. Okay, oppose it by all means, but it’s genuinely concerning if people cannot see the difference. It’s the typical Mag ploy of whataboutery to try and cleanse themselves.
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It's depressing how many people seem to think

a) if it's not as bad as the Mags it's OK, as though our moral compass should be situated around their actions and

b) that it's looking like them that's the issue here as opposed to far more serious genuine life and death matters affecting real people.

Anyway I've nowt more to say here my views are pretty clear.
 
I’m genuinely pretty fuming about this.

I hope the club realise the fan base will be against this and pull out. Money be damned, sports washing is a stain on football in general but I am fuming that it’s now going to be a stain on our club too.

Genuinely thought we were above this. Worst decision by the owners so far!!
 
It's clearly upset alot on this forum. Personally I'm ok with the game. Don't agree with much of what I read about in Saudi Arabia, it sounds an oppressive place to live. I'm sure many people who live their look at the way we live here and don't like what they see. As a one of game ok but if any links were to develop that would be totally different and I'd take major issue with it.
 
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