The Spanish Supercopa final between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will be played again in Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening (from 8 p.m. in the live ticker at sportschau.de). In addition to football, there is once again a lot of money and politics at stake – “sportswashing” remains a central issue.
Real, Barca, Atlético Madrid and Ahtletic Bilbao have been playing the “Final Four” at the Al Inma Stadium in Jeddah since Wednesday. Real won their semi-final 2-1 against their city rivals after an emotional game with Zoff between Vinicius Junior and Atletico coach Diego Simeone. Barcelona defeated Bilbao 5-0 with a confident performance.
In the final there is now the interesting constellation that Real can equalize the direct comparison in the 266th “Clasicó”: the “Royal” have 106 wins so far, Barca have won 107 times. The goal difference is also on par with 442:445 in favor of Real. But the sporting aspect of this event is largely overshadowed.
FC Barcelona could win their fourth title under coach Hansi Flick on Sunday – DFB keeper ter Stegen had to leave injured.
Clear words from Inaki Williams
Before the Madrid derby on Wednesday, there were surprisingly open words from an Atlético player about the venue. They didn’t fit at all with the aloof eulogies from FIFA boss Giovanni Infantino, for example, when he talks about his favorite football countries, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which are no longer new. Inaki Williams, 31 years old and just becoming a father, said simply: “For me it sucks to play in Saudi Arabia.”
The winger is annoyed by the seven hours on the charter plane, but also by the partially artificial-looking backdrop in the stadium. Williams: “Moving a national championship to another country doesn’t make it easy for fans to travel to and watch the games,” Ghana’s international explained: “When we play there, we feel like the visiting team.” In the final of their own competition, two guest teams meet each other. However, your travel efforts will be handsomely rewarded. And Williams’ criticism won’t change anything about the venue.
Inaki Williams expressed unusually clear criticism of the venue.
The tournament is set to stay in Saudi Arabia for a longer period of time
The tournament is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia until at least 2029, and according to media reports, there is now talk of extending the contract until 2034 – a tempting option for the Spanish association RFEF. The Supercopa has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020 and is expected to bring the organization 40 million euros a year. Many times more will be transferred to Spain via Saudi sponsors such as Neom and Red Sea Global.
In view of these sums, he seems to be indifferent to the fact that the association is making itself unpopular with many people. When the deal, in which former Spanish football star Gerard Piqué and his company Kosmos served as a broker, came about under then-President Luis Rubiales, it was not long before there was discontent, particularly from human rights organizations and politicians.
Sad record number of executions
According to Amnesty International and the Berlin-based European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, there was a new historic high of more than 350 executions in Saudi Arabia in 2025 alone. Human Rights concludes that Crown Prince Bin Salman’s promises of reforms and improvements in human rights have no value.
Saudi Arabia is one of the countries in the world that imposes the death penalty most frequently. According to human rights organizations, only China and Iran have more executions. But Spanish league president Javier Tebas, a former critic of Saudi Arabia, told Sportschau two and a half years ago that he had completely changed his mind: “It is an increasingly open country in every respect and it would be a big mistake to maintain my opinion.”
How far the officials’ statements have distanced themselves from the basis of football and any reality is not only shown by Tebas or Infantino, who now states Doha in Qatar as his place of residence. When, after several sponsorship deals with airlines and other companies, the state tourism authority Visit Saudi became the “official travel partner of La Liga”, the then league director Oskar Mayo said seriously: “I am convinced that this remarkable partnership will truly touch fans’ emotions and give them the opportunity to feel the unifying power of football.”
Watzke excludes competitive games abroad
In any case, this message has not yet reached Inaki Williams, whose club Atlético Mayo has since moved to the boardroom. He doesn’t even feel the connecting power and emotionality of Saudi Arabia peripherally. He has an ally in Hans-Joachim Watzke, who – possibly in the late autumn of his official career – recently made it clear again: “As long as I am responsible for the league, there will be no competitive games abroad. Period. That cannot be interpreted.”