THE headlines are there for all to see: ‘Celtic sell £25 million Jota’; ‘£10 million tax-free’; ‘Life-changing salary’. Every one of them represents brilliant propaganda for a country whose rulers are responsible for one of the worst human rights records on the face of the planet.
'Sportswashing' is the greatest evil facing sports today and Celtic should not be condoning or even supporting it, as they have done when taking the Saudi blood money.
In March 2022, 81 executions were carried out in a single day in that country in a year that saw the total number of executions almost double following grossly unfair trials.
Journalists are murdered abroad; protestors who dare to criticise the ruling family face up to 45 years in prison – if they're lucky enough to avoid the death penalty; human rights defenders are arbitrarily tortured.
Film-maker Jamie Doran was in Afghanistan on assignment in 2021
Yet the headlines are all about money and sport, exactly what the Saudi regime wants.
Celtic, my football team, was founded on the basis of helping the vulnerable – the current board should not forget this on their way to the bank.
As for Jota himself, the poor lad was only on a paltry £35,000 per week, the average annual UK salary.
Those fans who used to adore him and are now struggling to pay for their own season tickets in one of the greatest financial crises of recent times will undoubtedly empathise with his decision to leave. Now on £200k per week tax-free, they’ll forgive him while he quickly forgets them and any principles he ever had.
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Jamie Doran
Jamie Doran is an award winning documentary filmmaker who has made documentaries on Syria, The Taliban, Afghanistan, Sudan, Russia, football fans across the globe and many more.
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