Signing for Saudi Arabia: erasing your girlfriend from Instagram
A Spanish footballer deletes photos with her girlfriend and daughter after joining Al-Qadsiah. The dilemma between Saudi money and personal identity.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
A Spanish footballer has just signed for Saudi Arabia's Al-Qadsiah and, at the same time, has made every photo of her partner and daughter disappear from her Instagram profile. The sequence is no coincidence: the Saudi club pays figures no European league is willing to match in women's football. And the country has laws that do not allow that kind of relationship to be made visible.
The move sums up a model Saudi Arabia has been refining for years: using sport as a tool for economic diversification and image laundering. First came men's football, with multimillion-dollar contracts for global stars; now it is women's football's turn, where offers easily double Liga F (Spain's top women's league) salaries.
The price of double standards
The debate flares up when you remember that Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez lived together for years unmarried in Riyadh, enjoying the implicit tolerance reserved for big names. The same indulgence is not extended to a woman who wants to show her family. The phrase keeps coming up in the analysis: do as I say, not as I do. But as long as the contracts remain so huge, some will think that money talks.
How many more players will be willing to erase their personal lives for a handful of millions? The list has already begun.
The move sums up a model Saudi Arabia has been refining for years: using sport as a tool for economic diversification and image laundering. First came men's football, with multimillion-dollar contracts for global stars; now it is women's football's turn, where offers easily double Liga F (Spain's top women's league) salaries.
The price of double standards
The debate flares up when you remember that Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez lived together for years unmarried in Riyadh, enjoying the implicit tolerance reserved for big names. The same indulgence is not extended to a woman who wants to show her family. The phrase keeps coming up in the analysis: do as I say, not as I do. But as long as the contracts remain so huge, some will think that money talks.
How many more players will be willing to erase their personal lives for a handful of millions? The list has already begun.
Also available in: Deutsch
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (56 replies).
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