Leeds United's tour of Myanmar is morally corrupt, helping to promote a state that carries out mass murder
Comment: As the Shadow Minister for Sport, I am firmly of the belief that sport should be free from political interference on a day-to-day basis, unless absolutely necessary. On this occasion, I believe it to be absolutely necessary
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Your support makes all the difference.The Leeds United proposal to play a post-season tour in Myanmar really took me by surprise.
Almost a million Rohingya have fled their homes in Myanmar since last August, with only the clothes on their back, to find safety across the border in refugee camps in Bangladesh. On my visit to the camps in November, I spoke to a village Imam who described, in heart-breaking detail, how he witnessed all the men from his village of 3,000 people in Myanmar being slaughtered and dismembered, the women being raped, and babies and young children being thrown, alive, onto burning fires.
With the Foreign Office advising against “all but essential travel” to large parts of Myanmar, this strikes many fans as a bizarre, and inaccessible, choice for a post-season tour. With Leeds United set to play Myanmar’s national team in Mandalay, the Myanmar Government would be hoping for promotion of their team across Europe and we would be handing it to them on a plate.
We need to question where Andrea Radrizzani's loyalties lie. I don't want the Leeds United brand being used as a pawn to help further business interests; there has to be a calculation of the moral cost.
They'll be playing a Myanmar all-stars team, which is bound to benefit the country, at a time when world leaders have condemned the actions of the Myanmar Army. Leeds United has a fanbase across the world, many of whom will be dismayed by this news. Hundreds of Leeds United supporters have contacted me to express their concerns that their club is promoting systematic persecution, dehumanisation and murder of ethnic minorities – the team’s owner needs to stop and listen.
As the Shadow Minister for Sport, I am firmly of the belief that sport should be free from political interference on a day-to-day basis, unless absolutely necessary. On this occasion, I believe it to be absolutely necessary for me to share my experiences of the ongoing violence in Myanmar to urge Leeds United to cancel the planned post-season tour. It is morally corrupt for a football team to partake in a post-season tour to promote a country which carries out state-sponsored mass murder.
British people are courageous, compassionate and generous, so I urge Leeds United, its board and its fans, to speak out against the horrors taking place in Myanmar and secure their place on the right side of history.
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