Charlie Wood
Qatari state-owned Paris Saint-Germain won their second consecutive Champions League trophy after a penalty shoot-out victory over recently crowned Premier League champions Arsenal.
In doing so, PSG raised a question an important question. Has sportswashing worked?
The game was defined by an early breakaway goal from Kai Havertz, which set the tone for a predictable affair of attack versus defence, in which Arsenal achieved the lowest possession for a finalist on record.
The best defence in Europe contained PSG’s attacking flair for much of the match before conceding from Ballon D’or winner Ousmane Dembele’s penalty, after Christian Mosquera brought Khvicha Kvaratskhelia down in the area.
With the tie level after 120 minutes, Arsenal’s Gabriel was the unfortunate penalty villain in a shootout that swung in both directions.
Critics have taken aim at Mikel Arteta’s side for their defensive tactics and set-piece reliance throughout this season. In 14 of Arsenal’s 26 Premier League wins, a set piece goal has either been the opening of the tie or the winner.
In contrast, it is hard to dispute a team with the attacking talent of Dembele, Kvaratskhelia and Désiré Doué, accompanied by midfield maestros Vitinha and João Neves, is not good on the eye.
Luis Enrique’s expressive and watchable football is played on the front foot – the antithesis of Arsenal’s safety-first mindset.
The style is significant. Luis Enrque’s mesmerising and exciting football has the power to redirect attention. Fans and media alike quickly forget the off-field antics that have facilitated this European success.
Sportswashing is the process of using sport to improve a nation’s international reputation.
Sport is an effective method for reputational management through its universal cultural reach and emotional resonance across nationality, gender, class and age.
Not only have the Ligue 1 Champions rotated heavily domestically – Dembele has only started 11 Ligue 1 matches – in a season streamlined on repeating last year’s continental success, PSG’s president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s actions can become obscured by the emergence of a footballing style that global fans love to watch and pundits love to applaud.
Following PSG’s defeat to eventual winners Real Madrid in the 2020-2021 Champions League, Al-Khelaifi allegedly assaulted an assistant referee and threatened a Madrid employee with murder. Although a UEFA investigation found the club guilty of “violating the basic rules of decent conduct,” Al-Khelaifi, sitting as a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, faced no sanctions.
In 2023, Al-Khelaifi was accused by Franco-Algerian lobbyist, Tayeb Benabderrahmane, of kidnapping, unlawful detention and torture. Al-Khelaifi denied all allegations and himself claimed to be the victim of blackmail. Nonetheless, three senior French judges deemed the evidence sufficient to formally open a judicial investigation.
Although not an admission of guilt, this is a significant threshold in the French legal system.
The case becomes more severe within the context of Qatar’s response. A Doha criminal court subsequently sentenced Benabderrahmane to death in absentia for “intelligence with a foreign power.” The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention later deemed his detention in Qatar had been unlawful, citing failures in due process and allegations of ill-treatment and torture.
These two examples are in addition to Al-Khelaifi being charged with corruption over Qatari bids to host the World Athletics Championships.
Al-Khelaifi has been part of the Qatari government since 2013 and chairs Qatari Sports Investments which states that “revenue generated” from international ventures is to be “reinvested into Qatar’s sport, leisure and entertainment sectors to benefit the community as a whole.”
Accusations of sportswashing have been directed towards Men’s FIFA World Cups in Russia, Qatar, the United States and the decision to host in Saudi Arabia. However, PSG’s victories have received comparatively little of that scrutiny.
A state-owned club, whose chairman faces judicial scrutiny in a foreign nation, has just won the most prestigious club competition in the world to global celebration. Whether through rivalry or style of play, the masses flocked to cheer on a side that directly benefits the Qatari government – a government that according to Amnesty International maintains “tight restrictions on freedom of expression” and where many marginalised groups continue to “face systemic discrimination.”
PSG toe a fine line between on-field likeability and off-filed controversy. The club’s attacking identity generates genuine goodwill and Arsenal’s reliance on set pieces and defensive structure, fairly or not, alienates many of the neutral viewers PSG attract.
PSG’s generated goodwill performs something maybe more important than trophies: normalisation.
Normalisation for a state that remains under international scrutiny may be the most important victory of all.
Charlie Wood
Featured image courtesy of Kiarash Mansouri via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
