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dpa
Rome
Media associations and Amnesty International will stage a sit-in outside the Saudi Arabia embassy in Rome to protest against the country’s poor human rights record ahead of the Italian Super Cup match in Jeddah, Amnesty said Tuesday.
AC Milan and Juventus contest the trophy Wednesday in the Red Sea town as the Lega Serie A accepted the bid of the Middle East country to host the event three times in the next five years.
Organizers of the sit-in cited Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the civil war raging in bordering Yemen and its long record of violence, including death penalty, against dissidents.
“In exchange for 7 million euros (8 million dollars, in each of the three occasions) silence will fall on the bombs - including those built in Italy - that for the past four years have massacred the civil population in Yemen,” the organizers said.
They also spoke of discrimination against women, who will have access to the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in reserved sectors only.
Giovanni Malago, the president of Italy’s Olympic committee (CONI), said last week that he disagreed with Saudi’s policies, but noted that “women were usually not allowed to, (but) will now attend the game in determined sectors.
Italian politicians and human rights activists have objected to the game being played in Saudi Arabia, citing the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Against this backdrop of political outrage and protests, the match between Juventus and AC Milan is still slated to go ahead at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, and both teams are already in the kingdom. But more protests are planned.
The game is slated to be broadcast domestically by RAI, and the Italian state TV’s journalists’ union said recently it was “absurd” and “unacceptable” for the game to be in Saudi Arabia little more than three months after Khashoggi’s killing.
Rome
Media associations and Amnesty International will stage a sit-in outside the Saudi Arabia embassy in Rome to protest against the country’s poor human rights record ahead of the Italian Super Cup match in Jeddah, Amnesty said Tuesday.
AC Milan and Juventus contest the trophy Wednesday in the Red Sea town as the Lega Serie A accepted the bid of the Middle East country to host the event three times in the next five years.
Organizers of the sit-in cited Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the civil war raging in bordering Yemen and its long record of violence, including death penalty, against dissidents.
“In exchange for 7 million euros (8 million dollars, in each of the three occasions) silence will fall on the bombs - including those built in Italy - that for the past four years have massacred the civil population in Yemen,” the organizers said.
They also spoke of discrimination against women, who will have access to the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in reserved sectors only.
Giovanni Malago, the president of Italy’s Olympic committee (CONI), said last week that he disagreed with Saudi’s policies, but noted that “women were usually not allowed to, (but) will now attend the game in determined sectors.
Italian politicians and human rights activists have objected to the game being played in Saudi Arabia, citing the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Against this backdrop of political outrage and protests, the match between Juventus and AC Milan is still slated to go ahead at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, and both teams are already in the kingdom. But more protests are planned.
The game is slated to be broadcast domestically by RAI, and the Italian state TV’s journalists’ union said recently it was “absurd” and “unacceptable” for the game to be in Saudi Arabia little more than three months after Khashoggi’s killing.
