The Esports World Cup has begun, bringing many of the most popular competitive games under one roof in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This kicks off an almost two month-long battle over ridiculous amounts of prize money, which a vast majority of esports teams and competitors are fighting for.
This prize money – over $60 million across all games – stems entirely from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), making the Esports World Cup the largest government-funded esports event of all time. This in turn has raised serious concerns about sports-washing – a form of propaganda accomplished through hosting sporting events, sponsoring teams, and generally throwing money around in a chosen sporting scene.
The Saudi Arabian government has come under serious scrutiny from entities such as Amnesty International for its history of human rights offenses. In 2023 alone it granted individuals that protested peacefully lengthy prison sentences, gave the death penalty to others, and conducted various crimes against migrants at its borders, including killings.
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