Sports Politika

Over the past eight years, Saudi Arabia's sports strategy has transformed from a simple reputation management tool to a comprehensive soft power plan encompassing regional diplomacy, economic diversification, global impact, and a continuous stream of entertainment for the nation's youth.

Few understand the kingdom’s recent transformation like Stanis Elsborg, the senior analyst for Danish initiative Play the Game, who recently published a groundbreaking piece of research titled “The power players behind Saudi Arabia's sports strategy.” His research, which mapped out the inner circle behind Saudi Arabia's sports endeavour and revealed more than 300 Saudi sponsorships in sports, has been tremendously useful to my own work over the past few months. 

In 2010, Flash Entertainment—a state-owned live entertainment company based in Abu Dhabi—purchased a 10% stake in the UFC, kickstarting a long-term partnership between the world’s leading MMA organization and the UAE government.

Much has changed in the 14 years that followed. The UFC entered a formal partnership with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, established a “Fight Island” safe zone during the height of a global pandemic, and even helped the Emirate promote a piece of shady AI technology that was implicated in a spyware scandal.

So how exactly did Abu Dhabi buy the UFC’s undying loyalty? Tune into the latest edition of the Sports Politika podcast to find out.

Sports Politika is a media platform focusing on intersection of sports, power and politics. Support independent journalism by upgrading to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Are UFC fighter facing visa bans for associating with Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov? Why did I never join the Mixed Martial Arts Journalist Association (MMAJA)? What are some of the lesser known countries practising sportswashing? And did Hamas start the ongoing war in Gaza?

These are some of the listener questions that I answer in the latest edition of the Sports Politika podcast.

Happy listening,

Karim

Sports Politika is a media platform focusing on intersection of sports, power and politics. Support independent journalism by upgrading to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

In the U.S. and around the world, MMA's embrace of outsider sports fans and right-wing politicians has helped create a wave of athletes activating around extremist causes and conspiracies.

This episode of the Sports Politika podcast will delve into some of these examples, including the UFC’s longstanding relationship with Donald Trump, Conor McGregor being investigated by Irish police over “hate speech” violations following Dublin riots, and the reasons why so many UFC champs became seduced by conspiracy theories such as QAnon.

It will also attempt to answer the question: why are so many MMA fighters becoming right-wing political activists? 

Sports Politika is a media platform focusing on intersection of sports, power and politics. Support independent journalism by upgrading to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own).

Hey readers,

I love writing. I expect keep writing until the day I die. But I also know when it is time to challenge myself with different mediums in my quest to tell stories. Podcasts aren’t exactly new but they are new to me. I’ve been on plenty of podcasts over the years but I have never tried speaking into a microphone—alone—for an extended period of time and then publish it into the ether known as the internet.

Nevertheless, I tried my hand at podcasting this week and the result is the episode above—a 45-minute session where I walk you through my genesis into the world of sports and politics. I talk about my time in Egypt among a group of revolutionaries, my journeys to Russia and the cast of characters I encountered during those years, and how reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov shaped my career.

Some episode notes:

* I discuss my time among the Ultras Ahlawy, the Egyptian football fans who became revolutionaries during the Arab Spring. To learn more about them, I suggest reading this longform I wrote about them earlier this year

* I also discuss my time in Russia, including some of the absurd incidents I found myself in the middle of, like the time I was cornered into watching an MMA event with the president of Ingushetia—a man who is now Russia’s deputy minister of defence involved in the war in Ukraine. Read more about that here:

* Finally, I also mentioned the article I wrote for The New York Times earlier this year about Lionel Messi’s involvement with Saudi Arabia’s Tourism authority. You can read that article here.

Happy listening and, as always, your feedback is very much appreciated.

Karim

Sports Politika is a newsletter about the intersection of sports, power and politics. If you like what you see, upgrade to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.