You might have noticed how the chief executive of the United Rugby Championship , Martin Anayi, sold a fait accompli to his rugby audience this week. Just like that, the URC inked a sponsorship deal with Qatar’s state airline, a country where the Kafala system still exists. But doing due diligence these days rarely involves a check of the 2016 Global Slavery index.
Welcome to pre-season training in Qatar, a country whose take on certain rights would make Ian Paisley’s 1977 ‘Save Ulster From Sodomy’ look like a liberal crusade Yes, rugby was in a giving mood at this week’s launch of the URC season. The plans will potentially start with pre-season matches and training camps, but with a three-year deal in place, it could develop into bigger fixtures being hosted there.Just when did the domestic game creep under the duvet with LIV Golf and Fifa? You’ve got to ask if embracing the regime is fundamentally any different from fist bumping South Africa when it was under apartheid.
As URC rugby seamlessly moves into post-righteous mode, it does so shedding reputational currency that it won’t get back.