I don't think he's reaching generally here. You said there are different levels of shit actors but some of the same state entities as Amar pointed out own European clubs and sponsor others. Speaking of sponsors, you don't need to look further than Barclays, the banking partner of the PL which is very much tied to arming Israel in its genocide against Palestinians. There's of course the fact that Israel has been welcomed in European competitions for decades. His Haaland point is also valid because we hardly see the same vitriol against City players for being part of this project. People get a whiff of a player going to Saudi and it's like they sold their soul.
Saudi League is tainted for many reasons but don't believe that the level of dirtiness in European football is lower.
Like I said, there’s plenty of criticism levelled at clubs owned by state actors in Europe, so I don’t get the claims of hypocrisy? And the difference between going to City and going to a Saudi club is that City are playing in the CL and Premier League, which are very highly coveted arenas to ply your trade as a top footballer. No top footballer at their peak has playing professional football in the Saudi league as their dream, so their motivations are fairly clear.
Barclays have taken onboard criticism and have said they are going to divest from those companies, which indicates that there has been an outcry, and secondly that they care about such perceptions. Not sure what you expect from a bank, or any other corporation, what with their stated goal being "make more money", but they aren’t immune to criticism, that much is clear. States are generally shit too, I can attest to that considering where Norwegian oil money gets invested, but nobody is excusing that.
What happened when there was an attempt to make Qatar honour basic human rights? FIFA kow-towed, and were rightly given a lot of shit over it. And whatever dirt European clubs get up to, they aren’t making laws that make half the population lesser than, and they don’t criminalize and kill and flog people merely for being who they are.
So I don’t see how they’re fully comparable, and I don’t see free passes issued to European clubs when they get caught with their pants down.
Anyway, feel free to respond, but I’m going to stop de-railing this thread now. I’m sure some people click it expecting to see discussions abour Smalling
Edit: I see now that I skimmed too quickly and little on Barclays, they were only considering pulling out. Doesn’t change much of what I wrote though, Barclays face a lot of criticism for it, and rightly so.
