Rome (AFP)
The widow of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said it was "distressing" on Tuesday in Rome, the organization in Saudi Arabia of the Italian Football Super Cup, between Juventus Turin and Lazio Rome on Sunday in Ryad.
"It is distressing that a country presumed to be involved in a murder that has still not been solved is offered the gift of Italians playing football on its soil," Hatice Cengiz lamented to journalists in Rome.
The Italian Super Cup between Juventus Turin and Lazio Rome will take place on Sunday in Ryad despite protests from human rights activists.
Saudi Arabia, whose crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is trying to improve the image, among other things, by organizing sports competitions, such as the Dakar rally in early 2020 or a friendly Brazil-Argentina football match last November.
"I understand that there was an invitation, I understand the economic issues around it, and I also understand that it is not possible to boycott it. But don't you think that it will be used politically?" added Hatice Cengiz.
Jamal Khashoggi, contributor to the Washington Post and critic of the ultra-conservative monarchy, was killed and then dismembered by a Saudi commando on October 2, 2018 in his country's consulate in Istanbul, while he was preparing his marriage to his Turkish fiancée. His body has never been found.
The CIA and a UN expert implicated Mohammed bin Salman, who denies having ordered the assassination of this critical journalist even if he says he is responsible for it as leader of the kingdom.
© 2019 AFP