‘Hypocrisy, Barça!’, says fans about human rights – 01/13/2024 – The World Is a Ball

“No more hypocrisy, Barça!”

Thus, a traditional organized group of Barcelona fans, Penya Almogàvers, which has existed since 1989, referred to the Catalan club’s management in a post on X (formerly Twitter) this week.

The reason: Barcelona, ​​a promoter and supporter of human rights initiatives, acted in a contradictory manner by giving preventative guidance to fans who traveled to Saudi Arabia to follow the team in the Spanish Super Cup.

“At the same time as supporting human rights, it passes recommendations for the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, a country where human rights are not respected”, said Penya Almogàvers in its message.

“Where are the club’s values, Joan Laporta? Boycott the Super Cup”, added the organized fans, whose motto is to believe “in equality between people, regardless of race, gender or origin”.

Laporta has been the president of Barcelona since 2021 – he also led the Catalan club from 2003 to 2010.

Barcelona’s message about Saudi Arabia, published on its website, was addressed in a general and specific way, with mention of the LGBTQIA+ public.

“We advise people to exercise respect and caution when it comes to public displays of affection. Indecent behavior, including any action of a sexual nature, can lead to serious legal consequences for foreigners.”

“Same-sex relationships can be subject to severe penalties, as can open displays of support for LGBTI causes, even on social media.”

In the Middle Eastern country, which is hosting the Spanish Super Cup for the fourth time (the first was in 2020), same-sex relationships are illegal and subject to punishment.

In addition to the strong criticism registered by Penya Almogàvers, Barcelona’s speech was received with bad eyes by the NGO (non-governmental organization) Human Rights Watch, a defender of human rights around the world.

For HRW, in the words of American Minky Worden, its director of Global Initiatives, the context reinforces that “there is currently no human rights framework for fans, players, journalists or anyone else traveling to Saudi Arabia for a sporting event” .

The Spanish Super Cup is one of the strategies that the very rich country, an oil producer and exporter, uses to appear globally in the sporting sector – another is the hiring of big football names by its clubs, such as Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Neymar ( Brazil) and Benzema (France).

Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. The next one, in 2026, will be in the USA, Mexico and Canada, and the 2030 one, in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, in addition to having a game in Argentina, a in Uruguay and one in Paraguay.

The Super Cup decision takes place this Sunday (14), in Riyadh, with the superclassic Barcelona x Real Madrid, at the King Saud stadium.

In the semifinals, Real beat Madrid rivals Atlético (5-3) and Barcelona defeated Osasuna (2-0). In the 2023 edition, whose decision had the same finalists as this one, Barça won: 3 to 1.

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