Sportswashing

Quick meaning: Sportswashing is a noun meaning The use of sporting events to improve an organization or polity's reputation, especially to distract from human rights abuses.

Meaning

The use of sporting events to improve an organization or polity's reputation, especially to distract from human rights abuses.

More Meanings

1. present participle and gerund of sportswash

Example Sentences

By taking this line are we as sports fans not also complicit in this sportswashing?

From the 2016 European Formula 1 Grand Prix, matches at football's 2020 European Championship, and now the European Games, Azerbaijan is practicing sportswashing – using major sporting events as a way of diverting attention from human rights violations.

There is this assumption that sportswashing works, especially with football fans. I suspect there is a bit of a class thing going on here – as in, we are all thought gullible enough to have our awareness of the Saudis’ human rights record washed clean out of our simple minds.

2020 Hatice Cengiz, quoted in Stephanie Kirchgaessner, "Khashoggi fiancee: stop Saudi takeover of Newcastle United or be complicit", The Guardian I trust the Premier League and British authorities value their own principles and reputation above this transparent attempt at sports-washing

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include sportocracy, redwashing, purplewashing, footballization, wokewashing, pinkwashing.

Related Dictionary Tools