I wonder how many people can name all the sports which Saudi Arabia is exploiting to bolster its reputation. Off the top of my head, I came up with nine – golf, boxing, football, motor racing, tennis, horse racing, wrestling, chess and rally racing. I forgot about snooker and martial arts. A report last year by the human rights organisation Grant Liberty found that Riyadh is spending at least $1.5bn on high profile international sporting events. But that didn’t include last October’s $400m takeover of the Premier League football club Newcastle United, and the club’s $112.3m spend during the Ja…

Read More