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Jonathan White

“Norway, check. Germany, check. Next?”
That was the question on the Norway men’s national team T-shirts ahead of their game with Turkey and the answer was soon clear: the Netherlands. 
“Football for change” their pre-match shirts said at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam. 
More will surely follow  a move started by Norway last week ahead of playing Gibraltar, as Denmark did on Sunday.


#HumanRights ❗ pic.twitter.com/PEXGO7tH0v
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) March 25, 2021

“Human rights on and off the pitch” those first pre-match T-shirts said, coming off the back of calls from Norwegian clubs led by Tromso.
Germany’s players wore T-shirts spelling out “Human Rights” ahead of their game against Iceland.
Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz Saudi Arabia fight latest – but not the last – sports-washing success
As you might expect, there has been criticism, whataboutery and heads in the sand.
Yes, Norway might not boycott the World Cup if they qualify – and they also might not qualify based on their 3-0 defeat to Turkey – but they have agreed to discuss it at an official FA meeting. 
That’s not to say boycotts even work but they have started the discussion in the wider football world. 


Human rights - On and off the pitch. #GIBNOR pic.twitter.com/L28CfxVaug
— Fotballandslaget (@nff_landslag) March 24, 2021

There have been questions of where Norway’s star striker Erling Braut Haaland will end up next with Qatar-owned PSG or Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City among the leaders for his signature.
Just as there has been criticism for Manchester City player Ilkay Gundogan being among the players in the German side to spell out “Human Rights”.
Criticism of players misses the point. It is not down to the individual players but collectively behind their national football associations. 
Netherlands players aim human rights protest at Qatar ahead of football World Cup qualifier
Others have even pointed to Germany’s arms deals with Saudi Arabia but the FA’s powers only reach so far and they have at least raised the issue.
There is also the flip side where fans of clubs are unwilling to hear criticism, arguing that neither Manchester City nor owners City Football Group have been convicted of human rights abuses so it is all moot.
As it happens, there has been more emboldened talk from some players with Netherlands pair Mathijs De Ligt and Memphis Depay both speaking out after the game, while Germany’s Leon Goretzka told how the players painted the letters themselves.



I must say I am proud of our national football team. And they are asking who’s next after Norway and Germany! So, who’s next? pic.twitter.com/ZPY0s4zi64
— John Peder Egenæs (@JohnPeder) March 27, 2021

“We have the World Cup coming up and there will be discussions about it. We wanted to show we are not ignoring that,” Goretzka, scorer of the opening goal, told German broadcaster RTL.
Several players have mentioned the platform they have but that distracts from the bigger picture. 
It is not the players that have allowed “sportwashing” it is those in power. 
Soft power sponsorships: how Qatar uses sport to promote a positive picture to the outside world
The fact it takes in European club ownership and sponsorship – Goretzka’s Bayern Munich have links to Qatar, including Qatar Airways being their sleeve sponsor – shows how far it is seeped into the game.
One thing at a time though.
The next World Cup is in Qatar. That is the issue at hand for them and to speak up on it is their right – and they are in the right.


"Football Supports Change”The Netherlands join Norway and Germany in speaking out about Qatar's human rights record during the WC qualifiers pic.twitter.com/950bQdTM2t
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 27, 2021

This World Cup is different, not least because it is set for November rather than summer but it is under more scrutiny than any before because of the hosts.
Qatar 2022 is an almost textbook example of a state changing its reputation through sport and Fifa are the ones to hold to account, not a 19-year-old footballer like Haaland.
Fifa have stayed silent over alarming reports from the country relating to the untimely deaths of migrant workers – which The Guardian put at 6,500 last month – and their rights in general in planning for the tournament. They have done so since it was awarded in 2010. 
English Premier League clubs could pay for banking on China cash
It is odd that Fifa’s response to this new wave of pre-match protest has been so welcoming.
“Fifa believes in the freedom of speech, and in the power of football as a force for good,” football’s governing body said in a statement after Norway beat Gibraltar. “No disciplinary proceedings in relation to this matter will be opened by Fifa.”
Now though there is a generation of athletes who are more willing to speak up and speak out and the Norwegian FA have the backing of their public, according to a recent poll.

Footballers are far from the only ones and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton talked about going to see the UK ambassador in Bahrain ahead of this season’s opening Grand Prix. 
“There are issues all around the world but I do not think we should be going to these countries and just ignoring what is happening in those places, arriving, having a great time and then leave,” the Mercedes driver said in a press conference ahead of the season-opening race in Bahrain.
This is not the end of sportswashing. Let’s be honest, that is not in sight.
Naomi Osaka and Lewis Hamilton vow to carry on fight for social justice
It will be there when Saudi Arabia likely hosts Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury or whatever other megafight they have in line next. It is there with every passing round of the Uefa Champions League. It will be wherever sporting bodies take their globalised games.
But just as sportswashing has become the norm in football and beyond, so has the newly politicised athlete, those who have shown their support for Black Lives Matter and racial equality by taking the knee; so has a change in public sentiment.
That shift – and these T-shirts – are the first step for the dirty laundry of sportwashing to be aired in public.


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Fifa

World Cup Qatar 2022 and Bahrain F1 get political as sport answers back

Norways players pose with t-shirts reading Human rights, on and off the pitch. Norway, Germany, next? in support of migrant workers building World Cup venues in Qatar for the 2022 finals, ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualification football match between Norway and Turkey at La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga on March 27, 2021. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

Lewis Hamilton reacts on the podium after the Tuscany Formula One Grand Prix. Photo: AFP

Juventus and AC Milan Saudi Arabia Supercoppa overshadows Asian Cup while highlighting sportwashing, regional strife

Juventus stars Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Argentine forward Paulo Dybala celebrate with the Supercoppa trophy. Photo: EPA

Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz Saudi Arabia fight latest – but not the last – sports-washing success

Andy Ruiz Jnr (left) and Anthony Joshua (right) face each other, as promoter Eddie Hearn (centre) looks on. Photo: AFP

Naomi Osaka and Lewis Hamilton vow to carry on fight for social justice

Lewis Hamilton making a statement on the podium after winning the Tuscan Grand Prix in Italy on September 13. Photo AFP

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2020, file photo, Naomi Osaka, of Japan, wears a protective mask due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, featuring the name "George Floyd", while arriving on court to face Shelby Rogers, of the United States, during the quarterfinal round of the US Open tennis championships, in New York. Osaka's victory in the U.S. Open helped raised the issue of racial injustice in the United States. Before each of her matches, she wore a mask with the names of seven Black Americans who died as victims of violence.(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

Netherlands players aim human rights protest at Qatar ahead of football World Cup qualifier

Netherlands football players wear shirts reading ‘Football Supports Change’ prior to the start of the World Cup 2022 group G qualifying match between The Netherlands and Latvia in Amsterdam on Saturday. Photo: AP 

Sport

Football

Norwegian FA have started conversation over the next Fifa World Cup with Germany and Netherlands following suit in T-shirts
Depth of ‘sportswashing’ means that there is no slow fix and criticism of gesture and players misses the bigger picture


Depth of ‘sportswashing’ means that there is no slow fix and criticism of Norway FA’s gesture and footballers misses the bigger picture.


Fifa World Cup 2022

Formula One (F1)

Bahrain

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Opinion

Opinion | World Cup Qatar 2022 and Bahrain F1 get political as sport answers back

Norwegian FA have started conversation over the next Fifa World Cup with Germany and Netherlands following suit in T-shirts Depth of ‘sportswashing’ means that there is no slow fix and criticism of gesture and players misses the bigger picture

Norwegian FA have started conversation over the next Fifa World Cup with Germany and Netherlands following suit in T-shirts

Depth of ‘sportswashing’ means that there is no slow fix and criticism of gesture and players misses the bigger picture