When international sport comes to the Arabian kingdom it must be with a raised voice on issues of human freedom
As Saturday night spilled into Sunday morning in Saudi Arabia, something unusual happens. The shrieking bass line of House of Pain’s Jump Around starts pumping out across the Diriyah stadium, where Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight showdown against Andy Ruiz Jr is about to begin. A few people stand up. Then several more. And suddenly hundreds of men and women in traditional dress are pogoing and waving their hands in delirium.
This, to put it mildly, is not something one expects to see in a country that is a byword for patriarchy and religious extremism. But when I speak to one local, he tells me this is another sign of the dizzying change of the past two years. “Although I agree a lot of bad things are still happening, it is improving,” he says. “In 10 years’ time we won’t be living in the same place.”
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