(Beirut) – A Saudi Arabian court sentenced 12 soccer fans to six months to one year in prison on March 27, 2024, for chanting peacefully during a soccer match in January, Human Rights Watch said today. The Saudi authorities should immediately overturn the verdict, which is based solely on the peaceful expression of exuberant soccer fans.
Saudi Arabian Police summoned and arrested the fans after a video of a Shiite religious song during a match was posted and circulated on social media. The Saudi Criminal Court in Dammam sentenced two fans to one year in prison with a fine of 10,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (about US$2,666) and the others to one year in prison, suspended for six months, and fines of 5,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (about $1,333). . . Saudi Arabia is the sole bidder to host the 2034 Men’s World Cup.
“Soccer fans being jailed for chanting at a match is just one more reason that FIFA’s rigging of the 2034 World Cup bidding process to allow Saudi Arabia to be the sole bidder is not just embarrassing, but dangerous said Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “How can football fans feel safe in Saudi Arabia if they can so easily be jailed just for saying things the government doesn’t like?”
On January 24, during a football match between Al Safa Club and Al Bukiryah Club in the country’s Eastern Province, home to Saudi Arabia’s minority Shia community, a group of Al Safa football fans were filmed peacefully singing a Shia religious song celebrating the birth of Imam Ali, who is considered by Shia Muslims to be the first Imam. Saudi Arabia’s Shia Muslim minority has long suffered systemic discrimination, hate speech from the government, and violence from the government.
Katif Police call and released more than 150 fans for questioning in the days after the game, according to a source familiar with the case. They arrested 12 people, holding them first in Qatif prison and later in Dammam general prison, the source said.
In court documents reviewed by Human Rights Watch, including the list of charges, the police investigation concluded with a request to charge the defendants under Article 6 of Saudi Arabia’s notorious 2007 cybercrime law.
The charge sought for two of the defendants was “sending anything that can undermine public order using the internet and electronic devices”. Another charge, sought against all 12, was “undermining public order through the spirit of sectarian intolerance by broadcasting sectarian content in places of public assembly and inciting social strife”. Article 6 of cyber crime law carries prison terms of up to five years and a fine of up to 3 million Saudi riyals (about $800,000).
On February 3, the Ministry of Sports of Saudi Arabia was announced the dissolution of the Board of Directors of the Al Safa Club due to violations of the country’s basic Regulations for sports clubs. Basic Regulations allow the Ministry of Sports to dissolve a club’s board if it “commits … practices or actions inconsistent with public order, public morals or regulations.” The Ministry of Sports then I put Ahmed Mohamed al-Sada is in charge of the club’s affairs.
On February 4, the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee of the Saudi Football Federation were found that Al Safa Club fans violated the Federation’s rules of discipline and ethics and fined the club 200,000 Saudi Arabian Riyals (about $53,325). The decision too blocked the public from watching Al Safa Club’s next five home games.
The Saudi Arabian government has spent billions of dollars hosting major sporting events as a seemingly deliberate strategy to deflect from the country’s image as a rampant human rights abuser, and its investment in soccer is astronomical. In October 2021, the Premier League was announced the sale of Newcastle United to a business consortium led by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), a government-controlled entity implicated in serious human rights abuses;
On October 31, 2023, Saudi Arabia became the “sole bidderto host the 2034 men’s World Cup when Australia, the only country with a potential competitive bid, withdrew. FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, will certify the World Cup award at its 2024 meeting, but there is no doubt about the outcome with just one candidate. Saudi Arabia recently hosted the Men’s Club World Cup, the Spanish Super Cup footballand the Italian equivalent.
Human Rights Watch has long documented that some Saudi clerics and state institutions incite hatred and discrimination against the country’s Shiite minority. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to appeal to the country’s Shiite minority, including neutering the country’s once-powerful religious establishment and making changes to the 2018-19 Saudi school curriculum to remove some anti-Shiite imagery and rhetoric. However, some of the worst abuses against Shia citizens and their ability to practice their religion remain unchanged.
“Any sports institution, musician or global entertainer needs to ask themselves a serious question before performing in Saudi Arabia,” Shea said. “They should ask themselves if their own fans could be arrested if they chant something the government doesn’t like.”