Saudi Arabia has a bad record in terms of human rights, Juventus and AC Milan must be well aware that such sporting events can be a form of Sportwashing. We ask Italian clubs to think twice about the signals sent to football fans around the world.

The Saudi Arabian government signed a cooperation contract with the Italian League some time ago - source

Recently reported with the most shocking news for Saudi Arabia regarding the planned implementation of the Italian Supercoppa that will bring together big clubs Juventus and AC Milan. Saudi Arabia's grand plan will be threatened with cancellation. The reason is from various times it has strongly opposed the plan of Saudi Arabia as the host / host team for Supercoppa Italia. This was attributed to the case of the death of Jamal Kashoggi (a Washington Post journalist).

As is well known, Serie A organizers have agreed on a joint plan with Saudi Arabia to hold the Italian Supercoppa in the country. Dilangsir from Tuttosport, the contract agreed by both parties is worth 7 million euros and has a duration of 3-5 years. The match that had brought the Serie A champions last season, Juventus, and the Coppa Italia runners-up, AC Milan, was planned to be held at King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh on Sunday (01/13/2019). However, the manager of Serie A will review the results of the agreement related to the murder of the Washington Post journalist. The journalist's death has become a hot topic of discussion, because the Saudi Arabian Government is allegedly involved in the murder case.

Besides Supercoppa Italia, a tennis match that will bring together Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic also has controversy and is also threatened to be canceled. Head of Amnesty International UK, Alan Hogarth, is the first person to oppose the 2019 Supercoppa Italia match held in Saudi Arabia. He thought that the match would be a place to wash hands for the Government of Saudi Arabia.

"It is clear that a country like Saudi Arabia is aware of the potential of sports to refine the country's image smoothly. Saudi Arabia has a bad record in terms of human rights, Juventus and AC Milan must be well aware that such sporting events can be a form of Sportwashing. We ask the Italian club to think twice about the signals sent to football fans around the world, and the courageous activists who defend human rights in Saudi Arabia, "Hogarth said as quoted by Football-Italy.

Former Italian Sports Minister, Luca Lotti, also responded to the post-Kashoggi killing, he spoke about the duels of Juventus and AC Milan at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. According to him, the match must be held outside Saudi Arabia.

"As an MP, as a former Minister of Sports and as an Italian citizen, I appealed to the Lega Calcio to reconsider the decision to play Juve and Milan in Saudi Arabia," he was quoted as saying by Calciomercato.