The reality behind a fight in Saudi Arabia: human rights abuses shadow Fury's visit | Donald McRae

27/10/2023 08:00

It is difficult to be indignant about simple sporting greed, when activists claim police repression of women is worse than ever at the heart of Saudi society

The heat and dust rise early in Riyadh. As the temperature climbs towards 34C the construction workers drive their pneumatic drills and diggers into chasms of bleached earth while the foundations for new hotels are laid. But it's hard to consider the modernisation of Saudi, and its supposed representation by Saturday night's bizarre fight between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, when painful words echo from a few days ago.

Fury, the world heavyweight boxing champion, and Ngannou, the mixed martial arts heavyweight title holder for the UFC until last January, meet in a crossover bout meant to showcase the best of both disciplines and the uplifting transformation of Saudi into a gleaming new state where sporting icons beam down at the changes they are apparently helping to spread.