If you're located in the United Kingdom then you've likely heard about the story of Matthew Hedges that has taken over news outlets over the last few days. If not, let me fill you in on some of the details.

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Matthew Hedges is a 31-year-old British student who was studying for a PhD at Durham University. As part of his thesis, Hedges travelled to the UAE to research the country's security strategies, and this has been confirmed as being the truth by Durham University. While attempting to travel home, Hedges was detained and held captive on the charge of spying for the British government.

Throughout months of imprisonment, Hedges was denied access to a lawyer, unable to contact his family, interrogated, and kept in inhumane conditions. He was then coerced into signing a document in Arabic, despite not being able to read or speak the language, that is apparently a confession to his crimes.

Yesterday, Hedges was tried in a UAE court, found guilty of being a spy without any evidence that this is the case, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Hedges' family are understandably distraught at the outcome of this case and claim that the United Kingdom's government have put their own interests ahead of the rights of one of their citizens. It seems that the government are now looking to get involved, but this is an alarming outcome and sets the tone that British citizens are not safe to travel to the UAE.

Something that has shocked me just as much as the case, however, is the overlap in politics and sports. This became evident when Piers Morgan posted a tweet relating to the case, within which he said:

Sheikh Mansour can get this poor guy released as fast as he was so grotesquely stitched up by an Abu Dhabi kangaroo court. I suggest every ⁦@ManCity⁩ fan who cares about justice for a British citizen demands their club’s owner does so, or boycotts games until he does.

The suggestion here is that Manchester City owner, Sheikh Mansour, is part of an influential UAE family, and would have the power to help resolve this act of injustice. I am not sure whether this is true or not but this tweet led to a backlash from certain sections of Manchester City supporters, who were quick to defend the outcome of Hedges' case.

The question I have is why it takes something negative to happen so close to home before people are willing to take a stand? And at the opposite end of that spectrum, why people find it acceptable to defend something in the name of sporting success? The irony here is that Piers Morgan is an Arsenal supporter and that the club happens to be sponsored by Emirates, another huge UAE money-spinner. Human rights are something I think about a lot and I believe it's something that football clubs, in particular, should consider a lot more. Although I hope that Hedges has this conviction overturned and is allowed to return to the United Kingdom as a free man, this is an opportunity to consider the impact of the things that we buy into on a daily basis.

Football fans around the world dream of success but what is the real price of that glory? Human rights violations occur on a global basis at the hands of the same people that provide the money required to take football clubs to the peaks of success. Is it okay that someone else in the world suffers as long as we are happy? It's a resounding no from me. But it does beg the question of why we will turn the other cheek, as was the case today for certain Manchester City supporters when the spotlight is turned on us.

This post is an unravelling of my current internal dialogue, and perhaps it's a little bit wide of the mark in terms of sporting discussion here on Scorum, but I believe it's something we all need to think about more. Where do we draw the line? This isn't just about sports, but the way in which we treat other people for our own gain. Many of us fill our cars with fuel that has been obtained in less than savoury ways, we buy cheap goods that have been created in places that treat their employees like slaves, we use products that have been tested on animals and actively ruin the world that we call our home. It seems we're happy to turn a blind eye to a lot of these issues as long as there is a short-term benefit for ourselves.

The Manchester City supporters defending a violation of human rights against Matthew Hedges are no worse than any of us doing the same thing in other areas of our lives on a daily basis. However, it's something that does need to be addressed, and I feel that sport is a great way to do such things. Perhaps if we all stood up against the mega-rich owners who are violating human rights, or at least playing a role in those violations, then the world and football, in particular, would have a clearer conscience.