Sportswashing is a term used to describe the practice of individuals, groups, corporations, or governments using sports to improve reputations tarnished by wrongdoing.
A form of propaganda, sportswashing can be accomplished through hosting sporting events, purchasing, or sponsoring sporting teams, or participating in a sport.
The 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Nazi Germany, is widely viewed as an early case of sportswashing.
At the international level, it is believed that sport-swashing has been used to direct attention away from poor human rights records and corruption scandals. At the individual and corporate levels, it is believed that sport-swashing has been used to cover up vices, crimes, and scandals. Sportswashing is an example of reputation laundering.
The practice of sports-washing is the use of an athletic event by an individual or a government, a corporation, or another group to promote or burnish the individual's or group's reputation, especially amid controversy or scandal. 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Earlier this month, the sporting world was stunned when LIV Golf, the breakaway tour funded by Saudi Arabia, ended a bitter legal dispute and abruptly merged with the PGA Tour. It brings another round of scrutiny to Saudi Arabia's lavishly-funded foray into golf.
#MBS was asked about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Mohammed bin Salman said, “If that’s the way we did things, Khashoggi would not even be among the top 1,000 people on the list.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/saudi-arabia-sportswashing-accusations-60-…