John Buckley

[Eddie]

On 17/10/2025 at 23:46, Upside Down said:

But Britain arms, supports and enables all of these regimes. Especially Saudi Arabia. In fact the only reason it is Saudi Arabia and not just Arabia is because of Britain and the US. 

I'm hoping this discussion doesn't get nuked because it's a crucial element of this overall discussion here. 

Personally I wouldn't take Saudi blood money but I wouldn't take the US blood money either. My main gripe with players in the Saudi pro league is the same as it is with other leagues of a similar format and that is they are tinpot and Mickey Mouse.

If you don't have proper relegation and promotion then it's not a proper league system in my opinion. 

I am glad to see Buckley doing well though, hopefully he can use this as a platform to get a gig at a proper club and play in a proper league. 

I don't want to derail the discussion, but it's very different.

By going and playing in Saudi Arabia, or joining LIV, participating in a comedy festival there, or doing a host of any other jobs in KSA you are being paid directly by the authoritarian regime, benefiting from their restrictive policies, and existing within infrastructure that is built using slave labour.

There are lots of reasons to be critical of the US Government and many American companies, but playing for Inter Miami doesn't mean that your salary is literally coming from Donald Trump, nor are you playing in the Raytheon Arena, and you aren't living in a society that has been built (recently) by slave labour.

It's very hard to have a clean life where you don't tacitly endorse certain activities, but you can put in some degree of effort to distance yourself from them. Banking with HSBC means I use the same financial institution as many organizations and individuals I disagree with (many of whom HSBC is even investing in), but that isn't the same as taking money directly from those groups. 

It's disingenuous to imply otherwise. 

[KentExile]

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