Category Archives: sport

July 27, 2023 · 13:47

Sportwashing, what does it mean?

I have had my issues with the media for the longest of times. This time something on sportwashing, written by a woman (of course) where the Guardian gives us (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/26/revealed-saudi-arabia-6bn-spend-on-sportswashing) ‘Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s $6bn spend on ‘sportswashing’’. This setting comes across as a massive joke (to say the least). So when we are given “Billions deployed since early 2021 in a move critics say is an attempt to distract from human rights record”, so who are these critics? Names please? The reality is a lot easier to set in. This is not about some wash, this is about the beginning of the end for media players all over the globe. The setting al almost 2000 years old and was given to us by Decimus Junius Juvenalis who phrased ‘panem et circenses’. He accused his world of “to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction, or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace, by offering a palliative: for example food (bread) or entertainment (circuses).” The west (especially America) took this to heart and for decades it worked for them. We all got the NFL, NBA, NHL and so on. The problem becomes when the well dries up, when the coffers are empty. This was an event that people like Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (aka Caligula) faced and now the west does too. That being said, as I stated a few times over, Saudi Arabia is about to become the largest 5G hub in history, connecting Africa, Asia and Europe via Saudi Arabia (STC), as such the new (soon to become released) news channel makes sense. In addition to that they need to create waves of watchers and as these high end sports will all set the focus to Saudi Arabia. Football, Formula One, eSports, Golf and that list keeps on growing. Soon all eyes will be on the STC and the MBC Group soon enough and that matters, the MBC group started in 1991 and in 31 years they grew and they are about to become the biggest player of them all. I saw part of this and adjusted my IP accordingly (to some degree). And as they go live, the advertisers will walk away from the BS channels we watched for decades. Advertisers will go where the money is and that has nothing to do with sportwashing. That is the business of the day. As such I have no idea where people like Ruth Michaelson get their ideas but they are massively flawed. Then she starts to add fictive settings based on the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, which is interesting (apart from that essay joke by the UN), no one ever presented clear and defining evidence on that part. It is my speculation that some people accepted some form of guilt after the immense bashing by the media and political players (I will exempt the Washington Post from this). It all starts to take shape and tis shape took some time to gather as this was a long play and the media is finally starting to figure out what I saw well over a year ago. These media people are about to become obsolete. All these ads in the UK and US, now pushing female football. This is simple, as I see it the other gender will be broadcasted all over the channels that the MBC group has and once they start owning stations in Europe the final part of this strategy becomes clear and just like Google buying YouTube, the MBC group will gather billions in advertisement revenue within the span of a year making Fox News close to obsolete, moreover over 300 sports channels will at some point show the MBC group logo and that is when the coins really start flowing into the coffers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Losers like Microsoft and peers like Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta will bend over backwards to connect in some partnership to the MBC group. As such the evidence is out there in all kinds of messages and news casts. You’ll have to dig, because the western press has been drowning whatever news came from the KSA, but it is out there, as such I wonder who came up with the lame term ‘Whitewashing’ more important, as the media does close to nothing to the actions in places like Iran, do you think that Saudi Arabia needs to spend billions to hide whatever Human Rights issue is in play in Saudi Arabia? What a farce that presumption is. Saudi Arabia and other Islamic nations rule and act according to the Quran, the rules of Islam and they are just a few steps away from being the most dominant religion on the planet. Perhaps doing something about catholic paedophiles well over a decade ago was the best course, but feel free to disagree on that one. And there is a second upside, the NHL will prosper as other nations add their visibility to the global population, not in the least by the UAE Ice Sports Federation and its 50 members. Did you know that the Ice Sports Federation in the UAE was that big? What else are you not ware of and what is being kept out of western news? So which Cricket fan saw any matches on TV that were Pakistani or Indian based? Consider all the sports we will be getting soon and wonder why the others did not give us that, kept it from us. Why?  It boils down to money and short earned cash at that, when you play the long game the earning are different and the earnings could be long term. So consider all the sports that the US and EU have to bid for, all whilst they have no money left, only on paper, but that does not pay the invoice, especially when the banks fold. 

Enjoy the day, one day left to the day before the weekend that comes.

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July 25, 2023 · 15:39

Say What?

Yes, at times we get that. I have had my issues with the media for the longest time, but today was the wrong day to rub me the wrong way. It all started a few hours ago when the BBC decided to make ‘Obamas’ chef Tafari Campbell dies in paddle-boarding accident’ news (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66297450). I have no idea who he was and I mean no disrespect to Tafari Campbell. I think it is cool to get a job for one of the coolest presidents in America’s history, but lets be clear, the man was a cook. The starting text “Tafari Campbell, 45, worked in the White House before staying on with the Obama family after Mr Obama left office in 2016.” Is pretty much it, the rest should not matter to anyone. To give you a rundown of some of the things that the BBC did not tell you

Saudi Arabia (Front Sport Office)
There we see the news (at https://frontofficesports.com/saudi-arabia-reportedly-offers-1-1-billion-for-kylian-mbappe/) that a football player namely Kylian Mbappe got an amazing lucrative option, a one year deal for $1.1 billion dollars. I honestly have no idea why the man is worth that much, but basically, he’ll make in one year enough to retire from life in luxury. Now, I found a few more articles on this event, just not the BBC. I would never pay that much for anyone, even if I had the money, but that is not something I would have to justify anyway. And as news goes, it is new, sports is news to a whole range of people all over the world. And there is more!

Iran (CNN)
Here we get a human interest story. The story (at https://www.cnn.com/style/article/iran-film-festival-canceled-scli-intl/index.html) gives us ‘Iran bans film festival over poster of actress without hijab’, an action that is not entirely unexpected. One could argue that the people of that festival wanted the festival cancelled by default. We get a picture (picture was nice), and the story comes with the added text ““The minister of culture and Islamic guidance has personally issued an order to ban the 13th edition of the ISFA Film Festival, after using a photo of a woman without a hijab on its poster in violation of the law,” ministry spokesperson Mohammad Mehdi Samoui said in a statement, according to IRNA.” It is hard to ‘reflect’ on laws, especially on laws as they are in existence in Islamic nations, but there was a bright light for Iran, the BBC skated around it and gave the limelight to a dead chef.

Unite Arab Emirates (Khaleej Times)
A new stage and a clear news stage. The article (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/lifestyle/health/uae-new-case-of-mers-virus-confirmed-in-al-ain-says-who) gives us ‘UAE: New case of Mers virus confirmed in Al Ain, says WHO’, news if there ever was one. Mers (aka Middle East respiratory syndrome) is rare but serious. It is apparently spread through close contact with camels, camel products, or an infected person. It is one of those illnesses that go from animal to person and the WHO (World Health Organisation) has now confirmed a total of “All 108 identified contacts were monitored for 14 days from the last date of exposure to the patient”, in a population it does not seem much, but it is a serious issue and on a population of 9.5 million it is not much, but the disease is rare, as such the issue becomes foreground and limelight news. Interesting the BBC did not have this either, but the death of a chef, yes they did have that one.

At times I wonder who decides on the pressures of what makes the news, more important, what non-News makes that cut. Three stories that outrank a paddle boarding accident (by a lot). For something like the The Virginian-Pilot it is news. It was a person from Virginia and he did serve in the White House, no one denies that. Other local newspapers might follow suit on that. Why on earth the BBC did, I have no idea. Not in an age where events have the world stage. To underline this, the sports section gives us all kinds of news, but there is no coverage of the world championships in Japan? How does that compute? The top 25 articles over the last 24 hours and Swimming does not make that cut? Who runs that degenerative toko? (toko is slang for shop)
You see, another source gives us “28-strong British team look to make their mark just one year out from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris”, a team of 28 swimmers and the BBC cannot find the time to give its viewers and readers one story n this? What is wrong with them?

Overall there is a debatable side to more and more news agents, not merely on what the report, but also on things they let pass by. I want you to take a look for yourself and wonder why certain news events never make it to the BBC or several other news agents in the west. 

Enjoy the day! 

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July 19, 2023 · 21:18

Basic counting

This is a simple setting, there is no ‘complication’. There is a certain need to be competent and this is seen and shown in all walks of life. So I had a few issues with the BBC article (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-66229577) I am not saying the BBC did anything wrong. Consider what we are being told in the article. We are given “The event was supposed to be a massive boost for the regional cities hosting it, at a cost of A$2.6 billion (£1.4bn; $1.8bn). But the cost of staging the 12-day Games had ballooned to more than A$6bn, Mr Andrews said.” The very first question that came to mind was ‘How incompetent is Daniel Andrews?’ Don’t just take my word for it, consider the image below. Yes, it is quirky and funny, but not entirely untrue. 

You see I get that mistakes are made, we all make them. We get fuel prices wrong ($2.78 instead of $2.43), we get the price of an item can be handed wrongly, these things happen. But to make an error that amounts to 230% of the invoice requires a very special amount of stupid and I reckon that Daniel is every bit as guilty as whomever wielded the abacus that gave us such wrong numbers. 

And this is not the only case. We are given “Just one Games has been held outside the UK or Australia in the last 20 years – the 2010 outing in the Indian capital, Delhi. Originally expected to cost $270m, India ended up spending 16 times that – almost $4.1bn.” This now gives us three issues. The first is that the logistical side of the Commonwealth games will need an overhaul (if there is one left). The fact that they got the number wrong in 2010 by 1600% is clear evidence of that. 

The second part is that these numbers should have ben checked and as such subsequent games would have been ready. This seems not to be happening. The third part is a little harder. The fact that within 15 years the cost are driven up by almost 50% is one, the second is that India required $4.1 billion, so how did anyone find a way to get it done for an initial $1.8 billion? For half the price even as construction costs tend to be higher in Australia? Yes, we can fidget with currencies all we ant, but the numbers aren’t adding up and that is on Daniel Andrews, the buck literally stops there. 

It seems to me that there are too many fingers in this Commonwealth Games pie. Costs are getting out of hand and there might be valid reasons, but which paper did a thorough digging into that? I personally reckon no one is looking deeper into this as it also impacts advertisers. And the media loves its role as a courtesan.

Wo we will have to wait what will happen next, yet the larger setting is also interesting. Melbourne had the Commonwealth games in 2006, are you telling me that these venues no longer suffices? It might have been part of the scuttled calculations, but I see no mention of that. The BBC article makes no mention of the 2006 games whatsoever, which is a little weird too. So when the Commonwealth games are cancelled, I wonder if anyone will look deeper into this cesspool of incompetency. On the upside, I seem to have found another pool of revenue (or cost reduction) at present and it might apply to Amazon, Apple and Google. But I need to dig a little further before I make official mention here. It might equally impact IBM to some degree as well. 

Well, that was another fine mess I aided in creating, but that is how I roll.

Enjoy the middle of the week.

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June 22, 2023 · 20:45

Questioning the virginity of a reporter

Yup, I just went there (not for real though). I saw the headline and my mind pulled that internal question mark and on the first page, there it was, the name of that tool and her anti Saudi mindset Stephanie Kirchgaessner. There we are given ‘US Senate asks governor of Saudi wealth fund to testify over LIV-PGA merger’, which could be fair. It is after all (for the most) an American thing. What I wonder is why the Senate wasn’t all over this before the merger. The question beckons “Why is this on the plate of the US Senate”? There might be a very valid reasoning, but I am not seeing it at present. I reckon that with all the Karen’s, the destruction of the Florida economy by its own governor the Senate has a few other things on their minds, but OK, as I said. It could be valid. So then we get the byline “Invitation raises possibility Yasir al-Rumayyan could be questioned under oath about execution of Jamal Khashoggi”. Why?

In the first, that columnist no one gives a hoot about, was he involved with golf or the PGA? Was Yasir al-Rumayyan in any way involved with that missing columnist? Let’s not forget a real issue. Jamal Khashoggi is at present missing, presumed dead. There was never any bod, there was never any evidence on the things the media gives us all and essay from that UN person Calamari was as shoddy as it gets, the paper shows if anything that we are dealing with a missing person.

Was Yasir al-Rumayyan ever involved with anything, was he at any time around October 2018 in Constantinople (now known as Istanbul)?

So then we get some relevant stuff. With ““Our goal is to uncover the facts about what went into the PGA Tour’s deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund and what the Saudi takeover means for the future of this cherished American institution and our national interest,” Blumenthal said.” I cannot disagree, but at what time were the board members of the PGA in the US Senate explaining why they sold it in the first place? Of course, one look at News outlet Golf Australia gives us “PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and LIV Golf CEO Norman have been asked to appear at a meeting on July 11 to examine the shock merger.” Kirchgaesner hid that part in the smallest mentions lasting two small lines with the mention ‘were also invited’, can’t she ever do a proper job? The entire article is about boasting “Americans deserve to know what the structure and governance of this new entity will be” which is a laughable setting as most American do not give one hoot about Golf. I think their interest faded when David Leadbetter fell out of sight. Then we are given “While the focus of the hearing will undoubtedly be centered on golf, Rumayyan could also face questions about his role at the PIF and his relationship with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who is the chairman of the PIF”, as such this seems like another witch-hunt and unless laws were broken there is absolutely no valid reason why a person like Yasir Al-Rumayyan should sacrifice any lunch or afternoon tea to cater to some stupid witch-hunt. If they want a real witch-hunt, go after Governor DeSantis who basically ruined the Florida economy and lost them billions in jobs and revenue to boot. 

And as we look at the proposed activity, which was co signed by Ron Johnson, will we get any chance to ask questions to Ron Johnson on five simple issues like carving out a $215 million tax loophole for just three of his billionaire backers who spent over $20 million to re-elect him; A corporate tax handout that he admitted he and his wealthy donors benefitted from; blocking an investigation into one of his Big Pharma donors, then voted against lowering prescription drug costs; using taxpayer money to fly to his beachfront mansion in Florida; and a simple matter on how his net wealth doubled during his time in the Senate, it apparently was not enough for him (according to sources). Yet as was stated, Americans do deserve to know. 

It is these double standards in America which is why they are losing ground more and more. And with the anti-Arabic penmanship by Stephanie Kirchgaessner my personal message to Yasir Al-Rumayyan would be not to go there. There is nothing to gain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will intentionally be mocked by the US senate (and the politically coloured press), at best it will embarrass Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and at worst Yasir Al-Rumayyan will be on the receiving end of political jabs that were never on his plate anyway. Personally I get that the other two would receive invitations to explain the merger, but that is as far as I am willing to go at present. The merger of two golf entities in a day and age where a Florida governor scuttles a billion a dollar investment in Florida should be on the front view of EVERY US senator currently elected. Dousing the mouse? Not on my watch.

Enjoy the day, a mere day away from that famous day we all yearn for (Friday).

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June 19, 2023 · 01:23

Simple clarity

That should happen, but not always. If the spectator is to be believed, clarity is not on anyones mind. So lets take a look. The article (at https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-saudi-arabia-bought-the-world/) gives us ‘How Saudi Arabia bought the world’, which is in part not false, but this is how the Americans wanted it. It was all about values and commodities and the more the better, that is until they went broke. Now it is all about human values, an option they never considered when they handed the reigns to Wall Street. Now America according to sources “The Treasury Department paid a record $213 billion in interest payments on the national debt in the last quarter of 2022, up $63 billion from the same period a year earlier.” $213 billion a quarter, implying that they are now paying $855 billion a year, that is the price of uncontrolled debt. I gave warning over the last several years, yet everyone was calling me crazy, stupid and a whole range of names. Well now the opposite is coming true. Others are now in charge. First Anthony Blinken (aka Blinky Tony) went to Saudi Arabia, now he is trying to convince China on miscommunications. A good trick if he pulls it off, especially after all the anti-China rhetoric. But this is about the Spectator, who gave us the cool image below.

There we see “Sarah Leah Whitson, of Democracy for the Arab World Now, the organisation founded by Khashoggi, told me the deal makes no sense in purely economic terms. ‘It’s really important to know how much of a premium the Saudis have paid,’ she says. ‘This is a political move.’ In fact, the FT estimates the Saudis will pump $3 billion into their new purchase. That translates into astonishing rewards for individual players. Some already on the Saudi payroll are reportedly getting $200 million a year.” It actually makes sense. You see people love sports and Saudi Arabia has seen what the eyes on Dubai can achieve and now there is a start to set the eyes on Riyadh. Sports are a first. The Jetset sports like F1 and Golf are a start and more is coming. The people want their games, their sports and if you try to count on the amount of video’s on YouTube and TikTok that are about Dubai and the Dubai Mall, the number goes into the millions and they nearly all have counts that are in the triple digits or close to that. That is visibility. With the projects that are coming over the next 5-7 years these numbers are adding up. Saudi Arabia, like China have been playing the long game and now they are the winning side of visibility. It all adds up further when the KSA launches their English version of Al Jazeera, then the numbers start racking up fast. That realisation was why I tried to sell my IP to Saudi Arabia and Kingdom Holding. It is now an IP that is approaching $35 billion in value. There was a reason that I never wanted Microsoft near it, they only screw things up and the value merely goes down. I would if all goes well end up with 5% of that, more than the accumulated wealth of all my ancestors combined. Yet, this is about Saudi Arabia and it matters, you see next we get “Greg Norman, the former champion who runs LIV, has already ‘moved forward’. Asked last year about Khashoggi’s murder, the body dismembered with a bonesaw, he said: ‘Look, we’ve all made mistakes…’” this is why America is losing all options. What evidence is there? The bone-saw bit and all the other bits. The media was in a frenzy pushing speculations, but in the end there is no evidence, there is no evidence of ANY direct involvement by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. That UN essay (aka the joke of the century) was no help either, if nothing else, it merely showed how useless the UN has become. If there was evidence fine.  Yet there was none and when you consider that part. Is it any surprise that Saudi Arabia has had enough of America and the west? 

Then we get “All of this has emboldened MBS, who has been steadily creeping back into international favour since Khashoggi’s murder.” Is it because there was no murder? Was it because there was no evidence? Was it because internationally the people in charge are figuring out that siding with America is starting to be a rather large loss? In this America did this to themselves, they invented “Money talks, bullshit walks” and business America embraced that expression as gospel, the problem is that when you are broke, when you rush from debt ceiling to debt ceiling you have nothing left and when the bulk of your budget goes to the interest, you have little less to buy. It is a simple equation, and an abacus can give you that result it will not be a pretty result, but a result none the less.

Then we get to hedge funds, real estate (London) and several other places. These people go to Saudi Arabia, because Saudi Arabia is one of the few places that has the money. If the ROI (Return on Investment) is good, they are likely to take the offer. It used to be America, but you know where they are at and Japan is almost there too. Consider the wealthiest nation in Europe (Monaco) How many projects did Monaco fund in Europe? Look at that list and see where their money is going, when you figure it out you will see why Saudi Arabia is seemingly buying the world. The world is a commodity and no one else is able or willing to buy it. So hard times are ahead (especially for America and Japan) and we are all falling in the middle. It is why I selected Saudi Arabia, Kingdom Holdings and Tencent Technologies for my IP. I go where the money is and the few players that had the money in the west decided to leave billions on the floor. I don’t have that kind of time for them to wise up and consider what they were missing. It is their choice t rely on wannabe executives, it is their loss. To be honest I never expected my IP to get that high this soon, but the inclusion setting I wrote about a week ago (0.0144%) made it a lot more valuable. And that is not even close to the end. All the settings that came secondary will now have primary impact on others too, merely icing on a yummy cake. Yet in the overall setting where we see the Spectator and the other media copying and paraphrasing that part there is a nasty underside. When the Chinese-Saudi link gets firm, when silk road evolves into a next stage and when the governmental coffers in Europe and the US dry up, what will you be left with? Because that is the moment that pensions fall to zero and that, in a greying population is the nightmare scenario that is now a mere 5-10 years away. I tried to send the warnings, but everyone was so sure that this would never happen. So how many debt ceiling raises will go through next? When sports fall away, as such when advertisers go elsewhere (Google is already setting up that side road in Saudi Arabia this year) when marketing options fall flat and result is the only currency that is allowed. How many corporations will remain? How many jobs will remain? Soon it will be about skills that are bankable, billable hours and it will go to every layer of business. And that is the sad part, we enabled that road all by ourselves. There was never any other outcome there. 

So cheer up, it is about to be Monday, your favourite day of the week is now a week away. 

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June 14, 2023 · 01:11

There is a larger play

Something stirred in me when I saw the article (at https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2023/jun/13/saudi-arabia-golf-pga-tour-public-investment-fund) called ‘Saudi golf takeover is blueprint for what they want to do everywhere else’ and I had some issues with this. You see, we might give credence to “Players who had turned down eye-moistening sums of Saudi money out of what they laughably believed was a reciprocated loyalty to the PGA Tour found out, like everyone else, when their phones started pinging”, as well as “Even most of the PGA Tour board had no idea what was happening. Does this strike you as the behaviour of a regime concerned with winning hearts and minds? The brazenness, the wall of silence, the smoke and mirrors, the decision to present this deal to the world as a fait accompli: this is all part of the performance. The projection of power matters as much as the power itself. It says to the world: we bone-sawed a journalist, we bought golf and you didn’t even know anything was happening”. And there is more when you read the article. The largest stage is not set and not given. The largest set is that the US and EU are broke. They give a nice presentation, but the largest stage is that they are broke and the sports need to survive. As such the players, the teams and the largest settings are moving house. F1 is going because the middle east is almost the only one who can play jet set with money. Football is much harder, but the players that matter are moving house. They can try to be prima donna in a saturated world, or they can be the shining star in a place where they are alone. They can spread their wings and perhaps become a little better, or create the next generation of winners. Ronaldo and Messi are examples. The NHL is losing people to the UAE and the Middle East. Pakistan is becoming a more fearsome adversary in Cricket and that list goes on. The PG is merely one example and soon the NBA will see players go to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The middle east is becoming a sports contender and whilst we are all wondering why. Consider that these sports wanted inclusion and that is what the KSA and UAE did. Soon the KSA will have a new English news channel and I reckon about that time they will be casting sports to anyone interested in sports. A new conversation on topics we heard for decades and people will pay attention. Consider that we will get (in English) Arabic newscasts on sports and now the advertisers will take notice. These two players played the long game and the advertisers will come around. This is a given, they will go where the people are and the people want sports. It is a game that the Middle East plays well and they played it well now. The channels lost credibility, they lost teams and sports and now the harvest for the new channels will come in. Add to that the Vision 2030 by the KSA and you get to see a new stage, and in all that the interest in Islam will flourish too. The Christians who are hating everything will lose more and more. Doubt that? Look at Florida. People in Nazi outfits in front of Disney world parading? That is what remains of the US. A place no one wants anymore and the Middle East is enjoying every Karen and dopey video that graces TikTok and YouTube. The aversion against the US and EU is growing. Everyone is shouting and no one is speaking sense and the Middle East is cleaning house because of it. 

So how long until places like the UK and Australia will wonder how the Dubai White Bears are doing and what the scores are for the Emirates Hockey League this week. They will still watch their own teams, but there is a shift happening and it is happening all over the sports world. It is not merely Saudi Arabia, there are more. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is growing visibility and that is merely one of many. Until recent no one had heard of Fayik Abdi. In 2022 at Beijing Olympics he finished 44th out of 91 competitors. A man from a place where there is no snow is now in the top 50 best ski contenders in the world. Let that sink in. He beat a whole range of people who get to practice it every day, they are from places where there is snow most of the year and a Saudi surpassed them. Our view of the Middle East is off by a lot and we have been lied to by the church since 1094. We are set in a view that no longer applies. The Middle East can ad is becoming more and more a contender in sports we never considered was a threat to anyone from our local stages. Art Schenk (NL), Andrew Symonds (AUS), Lucas Braathen (NO) will soon see new contenders for top spots. Sports fans will cheer Fayik Abdi (KSA), Babar Azam (PAK) and Juma Al Dhaheri (UAE) that too is the consequence of inclusion. And the sooner we learn that anyone can play sports, the sooner you learn that these steps we see now are a natural next step in sports. We might focus on the money, but that is merely a sidestep. How much attention did the PGA get? Who now could afford to play golf? The media focusses on on every scandal it can, because scandals are emotion and emotions relate to clicks. So how many non-scandal related sports stories have you seen in the last week? When was it about the joy of a sport? Who remembers what the BBC reporter Andrew Jennings brought to light? 

Sports is not merely in turmoil, the fans are seeking a way to actually enjoy sports, something they get less and less of. And all the providers are charging for the ‘honour’. As I see it the Middle East has a larger advantage coming their way. But that is merely my point of view.

Enjoy today.

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May 11, 2023 · 00:38

The bigger shift

The news that caught me today is (at https://dohanews.co/saudi-arabia-mulls-launch-of-english-news-channel-to-rival-al-jazeera-reports/) giving us ‘Saudi Arabia mulls launch of English news channel to rival Al Jazeera’. I actually originally got it from the Financial Times, but they are behind a paywall, so I cannot use them as a source. So Saudi Arabia is now considering an English News Channel. This changes things. First E-Sports, now sports (Messi And Ronaldo), Formula one and now we get “A Saudi state-backed media organisation is considering the development of an international English-language news station, seen as an effort to counter Qatar’s flagship Al Jazeera network and boost the kingdom’s media influence”. I personally think that there is another reason. You see, if tourism develops in Saudi Arabia, the need for an English Channel rises and it’s need will rise exponentially. It also allows to dig into advertisement funds that have been denied them for decades. You see, the advertiser goes to where the people and the money is. The money is already in Saudi Arabia, but soon so will be the people. The stages of sports will allow Saudi Arabia exclusive news channelling and that leads to more revenue and more visibility. Even as we are given “The Saudi Research and Media Group reportedly approached media consultancies to assess the viability and scope of the endeavour, according to a number of people familiar with the project, the Financial Times reported. They said it will be the second-largest English-language broadcaster in the Arab world, after Al Jazeera English, although the preparations are still in the early stages.” And this is not all, there is another reason. As western media ‘embraced’ their Share holder, stake holder and advertiser approach to filtering information. They lost credibility and the audience. Most places no longer call it news, they refer to it as information entertainment (Fox anyone?) In addition to this, the west would finally get real information on Aramco (not filtered by Brent), on SAMI (not filtered by the pentagon) and sports. It would even propel interest into things like Camel racing, the Emirates Ice Hockey League and from that we could see the development of a Saudi Ice Hockey league. We know that they are still not a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation, but to see Saudi Arabia grow teams in Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh, taking on the UAE teams from the Emirates Hockey League (EHL). We could see names like Abu Dhabi Scorpions, Abu Dhabi Storms, Al Ain Theebs, Dubai White Bears, Dubai Mighty Camels propel all over the western TV stations. 

If the west is embracing sports Saudi Arabia has the making to replace a whole collection of news channels that lost too much credibility. And it isn’t merely influence. As I personally see it the KSA lacks perception and awareness in the view of the non Arabian people and this could be a first step to open that door. Beyond that there are several markets where the KSA could set foot into and in this world in this current economic climate that will go a long way, what is important that the first steps are made setting the larger stage towards doing something and that is where it is at. Will it happen? This happening is a logical step after setting claims towards E-sports, Formula 1, Football and Ice hockey. Beyond that is the stage where the people will get first looks on the Line (that long building) and several other innovations coming towards us from Saudi Arabia. 

A bigger shift is underway and the US with their deceptive ‘entertainment’ like Fox and even CNN, they will have nothing to counter it. In the last 5 years they wasted too much credibility opening the door to other players and as I see it the KSA stands to add an audience of close to half a billion in the first 2 years, would you like to see the advertisement money on that pool? 

Enjoy the day before Friday.

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March 6, 2023 · 01:36

The wicked chaser

This all started on February 26th when I wrote ‘Surprise, surprise’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/02/26/surprise-surprise-3/). To be honest, I thought that this would be the end of it, but to my disgust there are more issues and it is with western sport reporters. Especially the wanker at the Guardian, BBC, Australian and New Zealand media. They are so all up in arms about Cricket and we accepted that notion, but that was not the real deal was it? It was only when national interests are at stake, thats when these losers wake up.

It is strict, direct and it is unforgivable. 

You see, it was a few hours ago when the Arab News alerted me to ‘Saudi Arabia overcome Bahrain to win ACC Men’s Challenger Cup 2023’ (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2262701/sport) and there we are told “Dominant 10-wicket victory in final means Kingdom’s team maintained perfect record of 5 wins from 5 matches”. Now we can spin this any way we like, but the Saudi Team played 5 matches and won all five of them. This matters, it makes Saudi Arabia a contender on the larger cricket field. This does not mean that they are about to defeat Australia or New Zealand (England possibly), but they should matter. If cricket is to grow its pool of nations in there, it very much matters. And we are given “Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation Chairman Prince Saud bin Mishal told Arab News from Thailand: “I’d like to congratulate our leadership for the endless support we’ve always received, and the board of directors, the managerial team and especially the players. They’ve played excellent cricket, resulting in winning the cup.”” Now, I never watched the match, so I merely see what is printed in Arab News, but as I see it the bulk of the Western papers ignored the entire event. I saw one Australian media on page 2 of the Google search and it merely gave a score. I think that you can find a sport journo to wrote a few lines when the game is won, but that might merely be me. 

You see, we are also given “Saudi Arabia will now enter the ACC Premier Cup, to be played in Nepal next month, full of confidence as bigger challenges loom on the horizon”, as such what are the chances that the western media ignores that cup too? I reckon that we need to consider that we are on the wrong side of a losing track, when sports are trivialised like this it really matters, we need to do some soul searching to say the least.

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February 26, 2023 · 20:58

Surprise, surprise

That is how I felt an hour ago when Arab News gave me (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2257936/sport) ‘Saudi Arabia beat Indonesia by 8 wickets at 2023 ACC Men’s Challenger Cup’ I honestly did not know that Saudi Arabia has a Cricket Team. That is not even close to the end of it. 

You see, Saudi Arabia has 11 associations. They are Western Province Cricket Association, Jeddah Cricket Association, Riyadh Cricket Association, Riyadh Cricket League, Eastern Province Cricket Association, Yanbu Al Sinayiah Cricket Association, Aseer Cricket League, Jizan Premier Cricket League, Jizan Region Cricket Association, Madina Cricket League, and the Madina Cricket Association. I will do you one wilder, Saudi Arabia is playing Thailand tomorrow and when you search “Saudi Arabia Cricket” in Google, we see the match come up and in the whole first page of News Nine’s Wide World of Sports is the only one in the entire page who mentions it. The first three pages go back to August 2022, BBC sports never shows up and neither do most of the Australian papers. And Cricket is their bread and butter? How about giving possible opponents in the world a fair mention? You still think that Australian news is about sports and facts? Where were these facts filtered out? The fact that I never knew that Saudi Arabia did not have a Cricket team is on me, but I had help, for the most the sports world of Australia and England went out of their way not to mention it, nothing at all. That part is seen in the top three pages in Google Search. You tell me why the media ignores it, I have no idea.

So what else are we not being told? This is a simple setting, this you can look up and there you see how western newspapers treat other teams, especially the ones that are filtered out. Is this a storm in a teacup? Yes, I will admit that it is, there should not be so much focus on one element, but what is the element that we should ignore, that Saudi and Indonesian cricket events do not make the news, or the fact that neither show up at all? Because a few days ago the news was full of Women Cricket (and I am fine with that), but nothing at all on other events? I honestly cannot tell what the filtering was all about, but when one party comes with the BS excuse that they ran out of space all whilst the BBC app is rehashing news from Feb 4th, I will throw a tantrum. 

That is the news that the west gives us, all unbiased and honest, too bad it does not give us the additional “Filtered for the need of shareholders, stakeholders and advertisers” because I personally reckon that was part of that deal.

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December 31, 2022 · 21:18

At the finish of the year

Until about 5 minutes ago I was unclear whether I would touch this. You see Football is not my game. It just isn’t hockey (the real version, on ice) . I am not a fan of the game, never was. I sometimes watch part of a game and there is no call to national teams either. But for me, like for a whole lot of people, our world was abruptly called to a halt. On the 22nd November 2022 the game changed. Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina, a result no one saw coming and I reckon that a lot of people lost a lot of money gambling on that game. On the 22nd of November Saudi Arabia became a contender in football.

So whilst I see all these news items and BS tweets on how Ronaldo ‘betrayed’ the game, how he became a mercenary and a lot more rubbish, the bulk of the people are missing the point. You see being a sportsman on THAT level has a limited timeline. You can only be the best in the world for a limited time. OK, lets just say he is one of the three in the top of that game (apparently for some unknown reason no one in Argentina thinks he is the best in the world). But even if he is one of three on that top level, it has an expiration date, and he is no longer a teenager, he needs to keep his future safe. So he can continue on that streak (being paid decently well), or he can take an insane amount of money, being set for life and shaping football for Saudi Arabia. What would you do? Continue on a timeline with half a dozen prima donna’s, or create a dozen Ronaldo’s? Getting over a quarter of a billion each year doing so?

This is not merely the money (but it is nice to have a safe retirement 20 years in advance), he can shape the game for Saudi Arabia. This year they amazed EVERYONE, so what do you think will happen when Cristiano Ronaldo, the Number 7 trains the Saudi’s and in 2024 THEY end in the quarter finals? What a legacy to create and for Saudi Arabia, what an achievement to get. But we do not see any of that in all the newscasts or tweets, merely some SBS news girl standing pretty (and not much more) stating how sad she is, so why is she sad? Do we care? 

We saw the beginning of the game changing to a degree we never saw coming and Ronaldo, the number 7 can add spice to that equation and get over a dozen players a lot closer to the upper level of football than ever before. FIFA is about to get a new contender in this game and it is not a European team, yet that too is left unmentioned. So as I saw the sad amount of innuendo and attacks on number 7, I decided to write this. Consider this point of view, reject it, or form your own opinion, but think back to November 22nd. Did you see that game coming? I sure as hell didn’t and it was the subsequent deal with Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia where a new age of football is heralded in, heralded in by a Portuguese, Vasco da Gama would be proud of this day. At this point I wonder what the Saudi team will achieve in 2024, in Mexico because that will be a world cup no one wants to miss at this point.

 

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