Cristiano Ronaldo’s presentation in Al-Nassr drew a response from Amnesty International on Wednesday.
“I don’t give a damn what others think about my relocation to Saudi Arabia. I’m glad I’m here “At his first press conference as an Al-Nassr player, Ronaldo said. “I am content and proud of Al-Nassr. I can claim that there were numerous prospects for me in Portugal, the United States, Brazil, Australia, and even Europe. However, I swore an oath to this club, Al-Nassr,” the striker added.
In a statement, Amnesty now reacts to this, “The acquisition of Cristiano Ronaldo fits into Saudi Arabia’s bigger pattern of sports washing. It is very possible that the Saudi government will utilise Ronaldo’s appearance to draw attention away from the nation’s appalling human rights violations. Ronaldo needs to use his enormous platform to call attention to Saudi Arabia’s problems with human rights rather than lauding the kingdom without question.”
The humanitarian crisis
“Saudi Arabia regularly kills people for crimes like murder, rape, and drug trafficking,” the statement stated. “In one day last year, 81 individuals were executed, many of them following an unfair trial. The authorities also keep restricting the freedoms of political activists. And those who support human rights, women’s rights, or other causes,” according to Amnesty International.
An worldwide NGO, Amnesty International is also referred to as Amnesty or AI. The organisation’s stated goal is to “record and take action to prevent significant human rights breaches.” In more than 150 countries around the world, the organisation has about 7 million members (2015).
Amnesty looks into and records human rights abuses and tries to put pressure on governments, political entities, businesses. And other significant actors who violate human rights. Amnesty International has historically worked to end political killings, abolish the death penalty, ensure free and fair trials for political prisoners, free all prisoners of conscience, stop torture and other cruel treatment of prisoners, and raise awareness of human rights abuses by governments and opposition groups.
Cristiano Ronaldo must resist letting Saudi sportswashing use his notoriety and prestige as a prop. It is reiterated that he should speak out against the pervasive human rights violations in the nation throughout his time at Al-Nassr.
