At a time when ordinary Saudis are grappling with rising prices, surging unemployment, and increasingly burdensome taxes, Turki Al-Sheikh—one of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s top entertainment enforcers—has unveiled a new international boxing league, offering $750,000 per fighter per match. As if the Kingdom has resolved all of its economic and social crises, the government is now pouring millions into hosting high-profile matches while its economy continues to absorb blow after blow.
This new initiative is yet another entry in a growing list of flashy, unplanned entertainment projects, driven by top-down decisions that lack economic strategy and offer no real return—aside from burnishing the image of the regime and purchasing global legitimacy at the expense of public funds and citizens’ rights.
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Millions Spent, Citizens Suffer
A $750,000 paycheck for a single boxing match—while VAT is raised to 15%, subsidies are slashed, and essential services like water and electricity come with rising fees. Where are the priorities? Has punching faces become a more urgent investment than healthcare, education, or infrastructure?
Under MBS, Saudi Arabia is governed not with development in mind, but with spectacle. Al-Sheikh’s initiatives reflect a strategy of “spend big and dazzle,” masking a reality in which citizens are left to deal with the fallout of economic mismanagement.
Boxing as Propaganda, Not Sport
The boxing league fits neatly into a larger propaganda campaign—alongside events like Riyadh Season, the importation of European football matches, and the push to host the 2034 World Cup. These aren’t efforts to create a thriving sports economy; they’re PR stunts bankrolled by the Public Investment Fund, designed to paint a misleading picture of national progress.
Meanwhile, genuine Saudi athletes are sidelined, local sports infrastructure remains underdeveloped, and foreign athletes are paid exorbitant fees simply to pose alongside regime officials for a photo op.
From the Ring to Economic Ruin
Mohammed bin Salman governs not as a statesman, but as a PR campaigner desperate for global applause. Vision 2030—once touted as a roadmap for economic diversification—has become little more than a hollow brand, fronting projects like mega theme parks, gladiator events, and multi-billion-dollar sports contracts.
Rather than fostering sustainable development, the PIF has morphed into a personal wallet for MBS’s self-promotion campaigns.
Sportswashing 101: Boxing Joins FIFA, F1, and WWE
Saudi Arabia’s boxing ambitions are part of a wider effort to launder its human rights abuses through sports. From FIFA to Formula 1 to WWE, the regime is leveraging athletic entertainment as a smokescreen to distract from political repression, press censorship, the jailing of dissidents, and systematic gender discrimination.
Sport has ceased to be a unifying social good—it has become a tool of authoritarian spectacle. Boxers strike each other in the ring while the regime lands far more dangerous blows on its own citizens.
- Economic Breakdown: A Nation in Crisis
- Behind the dazzling lights, the economic situation is dire:
- National debt surpasses 1.1 trillion SAR
- A projected 2024 budget deficit of 82 billion SAR
- Declining foreign direct investment despite flashy events
- Youth unemployment remains alarmingly high
- Small and medium enterprises are suffocating under monopolized mega-projects
While foreign boxers pocket six-figure sums, many Saudi families struggle to afford rent, healthcare, and access to quality education. Who benefits from this extravagance? The regime, its cronies, and a handful of PR firms abroad.
Distraction as a Political Strategy
It’s clear the government has no genuine development plan. Instead, it uses entertainment as a sedative and spectacle to deflect attention from widespread repression. Rather than building institutions or expanding freedoms, the regime floods the streets with fireworks and staged fights, hoping the population is too distracted to protest.
The message is clear: Let them be entertained, while we strip them of their rights.
Boxing in the Ring, Slaps Across the Nation
A $750,000 match fee for a foreign boxer is more than a luxury—it’s an insult. It symbolizes a country that has lost its economic compass, where decisions are ruled by the ego of the leadership rather than the needs of the people.
In bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia, everything is for sale: boxing, media, FIFA—and even the dignity of its people. But no amount of sportswashing can erase reality. The real fight isn’t in the ring—it’s between a nation demanding dignity and a regime addicted to self-destruction.
