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Saudis Boycott Soccer over Prince Insults

Saudis are calling to boycott local soccer games to protest comments made by a Saudi prince who criticized sports commentators on live television.
 
Prince Sultan Bin Fahd Bin ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz had watched Oman’s national soccer team beat the Saudi team in the Gulf Cup and heard the ensuing commentary on the Saudi sports channel, A-Riyadiyya.
 
He called in to the live talk show on January 17 and slammed the commentators for their critical remarks.
 
The commentators were criticizing both the Saudi national soccer team and the management of the Saudi Soccer Federation.
 
“You’d better stay silent,” the prince, who is also head of Saudi Youth Welfare and president of the Saudi Olympic committee, told the commentators on air.
 
“I can’t tolerate your attitude. If you’re not polite I’ll educate you myself.”
 
One of the commentators tried to argue that the criticism was merely technical, but the prince hung up.
 
Saudi youth are launching a campaign to boycott matches in the Saudi soccer league to protest the prince’s comments. They are asking spectators not to turn up for the games and not to participate in soccer club activities, according to a UPI report.
 
The Saudi prince’s comments have sparked anger and concern among Saudi bloggers and journalists, as well as with international media rights groups.
 
Journalists are concerned this will lead a greater degree of self-censorship among journalists and commentators.
 
“Not only the prince but also radical clerics reject criticism and have been spurring fear and self-censorship among Saudi journalists and bloggers,” the Committee for the Protection of Journalists said.
 
“They have enough power to silence or jail journalists and reform advocates.”
 
The international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranks Saudi Arabia as having a very grave situation in terms of media freedom.
 
It is worth noting that although RSF has named Saudi Arabia as “one of the biggest enemies of press freedom,” The Media Line has reported a gradual improvement in some areas in Saudi media freedom over the past four or five years. 
 
The Saudi media is opening up more to female media professionals and although the coverage of political issues is restricted, there is greater openness to the coverage of contentious issues such as violence against women.