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He should change his name to Olly Shakespeare
“You can’t take money from a regime like that and retain any claim to be some sort of sporting ambassador. Surely Joshua can see that. Nearer the start of his career, there was a time when it seemed Joshua might be a figure who could transcend sport, but that opportunity has been lost and with it, his hopes of a meaningful legacy.
The Saudis are using him and sportsmen and women like him to try to sluice away international unease about their human rights abuses.”
“Joshua was seen as a hero once but if we vilify golfers such as Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka for taking Saudi cash and joining LIV, then the same attitude has to be applied to Joshua and those, such as Eddie Howe and Dan Ashworth, who have joined Newcastle United as manager and sporting director respectively since Saudi Arabia bought the club.”
“How refreshing it would be if a footballer said he was not interested in joining Newcastle because he didn’t want the Saudi cash. That should not seem so outlandish, surely, particularly not at a time when players are more and more aware of their social responsibilities. Andy Murray has made it clear he will never play in Saudi Arabia. Rory McIlroy has been adamant he will not take Saudi cash.”
“At least Lewis Hamilton, who raced in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix earlier this year, had the courage and the conscience to call on the Saudi regime to improve their human rights record. Joshua and Howe have stayed resolutely silent and their silence shames them. Joshua says he doesn’t know what sportswashing is, which is convenient given that he is being used as one of its most powerful tools.”
“All of them, all the boxers and golfers and footballers who take the Saudi cash, may become rich beyond their wildest dreams because of it. But there is a cost. There is a price. The price is that we will never look at any of them in the same way again.”
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Worraboot these baby leopards?
^ as if a grown adult is making comments like this.
