Kudos to pitchinvasion.net for an excellent article on the disgusting decision by Barcelona FC to accept sackloads of cash to promote Islam Karimov, the world’s most vicious dictator.
http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2009/03/15/bunyodkor-barcelona-and-the-dictators-daughter/
Pitch invasion were building on an article in the Observer by Kevin O’Flynn, who is almost the only sports journalist who ever tackles the seamy underside of the beautiful game.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/mar/15/bunyodkor-uzbekistan-rivaldo-craig-murray
Kevin O’Flynn’s reckoning of salaries in Uzbekistan as £25 a week is an official statistic. Some urban folk get that. Most of the population live on much, much less. For this poor and terrorised state to be spending hundreds of millions of pounds of money stolen from the Uzbek people on building a glamour football club to glorify the President’s daughter, is obscene in the extreme.
High among the many horrors of the Karimov regime is the mass use of child slavery to pick the State – ie Karimov family – owned cotton crop. Hundreds of thousands of children are forced into the cotton fields for weeks in conditions that mirror those of black slaves in the USA in the 19th century. Uzbekistan is the second largest exporter of cotton in the world.
http://www.ejfoundation.org/?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&page_id=141
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2007/03/uzbek_cotton_in.html
The situation is so appalling that even Walmart and Tesco have joined a voluntary private sector boycott in the US and UK of all items containing Uzbek cotton.
Barcelona should be ashamed of the collaboration with Karimov. They carry the Unicef logo on their shirts. The irony of Unicef being advertised on a team that is paid to glorify the leader of the world’s largest system of child slavery, is staggering.
Unicef must break their ties with Barcelona. Now.
Unfortunately, money talks. Besides, Karimov is a son of a bitch, but he is the West’s son of a bitch… At least, until the end of Afganistan campaign.
It’s not only Barca.
The Arsenal signed up for a deal to promote the harlot of nations ‘Israyhell’, as a, ge this, tourist destination. Repulsive. I used to support the Arse too. when I saw “visit Israyhell” on the boards I almost puked. I don’t support the Arse any more and I refuse to watch them play.
Money trumps morals in their world, but for most people these issues are an irrelevance.
What is there about football that attracts these unpleasant Uzbecki types whom you would not want to meet in the dark.
Alisher Usmanov (Arsenal) seems to be going through hard times according to this Times piece. He presently occupies Sutton Place, Guildford, a Grade 1 listed 17th century treasure once home to J. Paul Getty. It is awful to think that part of our national heritage is in such horrible hands.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article5386481.ece
Craig gets a mention on his Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisher_Usmanov
and also Karimov’s.
Well noted Craig…Senior UNICEF people will be in my locality here in DRC next week…I will make your thoughts known to them as we have a scheduled meeting…may get chucked out by the security guards, but then, when have us Murray’s ever been afraid of causing a bit of a ruckus ?
You might want to get a grip of reality mate.
“Child slavery supporters Barcelona FC”? Wouldn’t guess they have a big match against UK opposition next week, would you? Connected a LOT of dots to get to that point. Even if it does now seem like a bad choice by Barca.
And it’s FC Barcelona.