MLS launches "Don't Cross the Line", chooses human rights abusing despot as NY2 owner a year later

To be fair most billionaire owners are going to have some dirt on their hands regardless of nationality. But these UAE guys seem to be a few notches above most. This will certainly be one of the easiest teams to hate in MLS ... and I agree that Garber should be made to answer for the obvious "don't cross the line" contradiction

 

Would the answer go something like:

As long as the 100 million dollar check clears, then what evers!

 

I think it's fairly predictable what Garber will say "if" the heat is ever turned up hot enough on this topic where he is forced to comment - because Plan A is obviously to keep this apparently glaring contradiction/hypocrisy quiet for as long as possible.

But Plan B will be a very carefully worded PR statement that balances the following factors to spin this in the most positive way for MLS:

• MLS is not and cannot be responsible for an owners personal actions outside of MLS
• MLS will always stand for "Don't Cross the Line" principles. No power or entity will ever change that commitment in the slightest. "See how MLS is great/strong?"
  
• It is a great sign that NYCFC owner invests in us, knowing that we have these principles
  
• MLS is pushing this campaign in the hopes of reaching minds/changing attitudes
• No direct mention of owner's actions, etc. is ever made or even inferred to avoid embarasment, but they will try and infer something along the lines of "Darth Vader (NYCFC owner) hanging around Luke Skywalker (MLS) enough, will get Darth Vader to change his ways, be the good guy he truly is on the inside, and turn against the Evil Emperor in the end." Because everyone loves a good redemption story.

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"While MLS does not get involved with, nor comments on, an owner's personal activities, we will always stand strong behind the "Don't Cross the Line" Campaign and principles. Nothing will ever change that commitment. It is always encouraging to see more people committing to these principles, whether it is a fan signing a pledge, or an investor spending millions to support the league behind the campaign. We are confident that in the long run, the sustained commitment MLS has in this campaign will positively influence hearts, minds and behavior around the world."
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Seriously. That's what Garber will say, or a version of it adhering to the bullet points above.

And this statement, repeated often enough, will likely deflect it enough to not bother Garber again, unless the owner actually tortures someone in the NYCFC stadium on game day.

Prepare your barf bag if you need to, but you read it here first. Just prepping everyone on what to expect if Garber is ever forced to say something on this topic.

 

http://ihrri.com/contry.php

http://ihrri.com/index.php?iso=AE

 

It would help if the website actually told us how the methodology works, and how it has been applied to each country.

All we get is this:

 

All of them seem to rank UAE as best in class for the arab world while USA struggles though...

"As for countries with a lower risk, Scandinavian nations such as Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden round out the bottom of the list. The United States, with a "medium" risk of human rights offenses, ranked 139th among the 197 countries"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...las-2014-violations-maplecroft_n_4374133.html



But let us see what The Human Rights Watch say about UAE and USA and Mexico as comparison..

http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/united-states?page=1

http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/mexico

http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/united-arab-emirates

 

All of those seem to combine domestic issues in the United States with foreign policy issues that the US deals with.

That's not a good way of handling this, because those two things are almost completely separate. In fact, it's damaging to start combining everything under one large human rights umbrella, because at least as far as US politics are concerned, you really need to have a separate focus on domestic vs. international issues, or else no one is going to listen to you.

Though if you read through the Human Rights Watch reports, they really are far harsher on the UAE than the US. The United States' report is far longer, because they have more access to report on issues there than in most other places.

 

Really surprised me the US report.. But the main thrust domestically was that in the US it´s all about money, freedom, education, healthcare etc is depending on how much you can afford. Even falling behind in your rent can start criminal procedures at some states

Where as in the UAE you´ll be in trouble if you are a muslim fundamentalist or exploited if you are an unskilled worker.

In Mexico, well... the less said about Mexico and human rights

 

As facts change, my opinion changes.

In light of Clippers owner D. Sterling's NBA's lifetime ban (and NBA intent to force him to sell his team), this week for racist remarks Sterling made in private (from an illegally recorded phone call as best I can tell. EDIT - this parenthesis part is probably incorrect, see JasonMa post below), MLS Commisioner Garber can no longer hide behind the potential argument above re: NYCFC owners.

Garber and anyone associated with NYCFC are going to be really quiet for the next few months on everything - hoping to duck the national radar.

With all the publicity and ratings that TMZ sports, ESPN, etc. got out of the Sterling/Clippers, you can just bet that they are itching to root out a follow up story - a "hey, we found another!" And since Soccer is a sport the traditional sports media love to bash....

All it would take is someone to put something out in the media of the new NYCFC owner doing the things he does in the Middle East - and then ask Garber the following:

1) Don, do you agree with how Commissioner Silver handled the Sterling/Clippers situation?
2) Don, if something like this happened in MLS, would you respond the same? Why/why not?
3) Don, looking at how the NBA handled their situation, how should MLS handle this? (rolls video or other stories of NYCFC owner)
4) Oh, by the way New York Yankees, how do you feel about this?

You can kiss any discussion re: NYCFC stadium goodbye for the time being too.

If I'm Garber, I'm really, really, really nervous right now.

 

From what I've read it wasn't a phone call it was in person and he knew he was being recorded (in fact, he asked to be recorded on numerous occasions). The NBA's statement also said that Sterling admitted that it was his voice on the tape and he knew he was being recorded.

 

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I haven't followed that part of the story closely.

I still think my other points stand about Garber being really nervous about MLS and NYCFC being next in the media cross-hairs on this subject that is currently grabbing the nation's attention....

Heck, as an MLS fan "I'm" nervous. This won't look good for the league at all.

 

Words mean more than actions as far as the media is concerned (as unfortunate as that is). As long as no one in the NYCFC ownership says anything bad, they won't get called out on anything happening back in the UAE.

 

You mean like if they closed down Jules in UAE? .. Best gay bar in the whole arab peninsula

 

Considering the persisent moral outrage about Qatar 2022 I find the lack of traction for this thread interesting.

I can therefore only arrive at the following conclusion:

- Middle Eastern money spent in the Middle East -> BAD
- Middle Eastern money spent on my home team/league -> GOOD

 

You have your equation mixed up
Money spent on slave migrant workers and bribes -> BAD
Money spent on soccer in the US -> GOOD (if you are a soccer fan that is)

 

I don't follow you here.

 

Sheikh Mansour is not the UAE. It's hard to find anything about what his actual position is on any UAE politics. Mostly he seems to be a full time businessman and the part time head of the UAE's charities.

Qatar OTOH is Qatar.

 

My logic went like this (not saying I'm right, just what I was thinking):
1) "Rich Sports Owner Gotcha" (NBA's Sterling's racist remarks and subsequent ban) is the current cause/headline du jour .

2) NYCFC, looking for a (Bronx?) location for a stadium, has a majority owner that makes Sterling look like a great guy in comparison

3) Bronx Borough President says re: stadium plans/funding "“It can’t just benefit the royal family of Abu Dhabi" (the majority owner of NYCFC).

4) Thus the ownership is already under scrutiny - "He's rich and has the gall to ask us to fund part of it?" A passionate anti-stadium opponent looking to score political points can start making other observations about the character/actions of the owner, and suggesting that NYC/Bronx would be creating a Sterling-type situation.

In this environment, I would lay low and out of the public eye for a bit if I were NYCFC, until this Sterling thing cools down....because you want no part of the Sterling limelight.

Hence my comment about "forgetting about the stadium for a while". It would be NYCFC who should take a pause on progress on this for PR precautionary purposes.

 

Que? Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is deputy prime minister of the UAE as well as minister of presidential affairs. By any definition he is Abu Dhabi and therefore the UAE. And I wasn't just talking about him but also Etihad's sponsorship of MLS. On a side-note, trying to draw the line between government and big Emirati "private" companies is a futile exercise in a country like the UAE. It's all connected to the royal family in some way. You can't achieve that level of wealth without it.

This is no different than Qatar, no matter how much people want it to be. Some here like to focus on how the money is spent without asking how the money was generated in the first place. Hint, the UAE oil and gas sector as well as the recent real estate/tourism boom rely heavily on cheap labour.

Anyhow, time for my breakfast manakish. Let me flip open Gulf News and see what democracy/human-rights preaching poltician from the enlightened "West" is in town today, trying to secure UAE government contracts for his buddies in the private sector and/or begging for direct investment into his economy.

 

When you go to a restaurant, the soup du jour changes every day. That's what "du jour" means.

 

Charles H. Rivkin - Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, first trip abroad in this capacity went to UAE just ten days ago.. why?
Because 1400 American businesses got offices there might be a good guess, because UAE is a top export market for USA might be another of course. Boeing alone picked up $130bn in orders from UAE last year.
Simply put UAE is way to important financially to ignore and when it comes the main human rights issues it boils down to A) Islamic fundamentalists are treated harshly B) Low skill immigrant workers are exploited
But many countries USA included have a track record there as well..

Now I´m just waiting for someone to ask about the death penalty for homosexuality while browsing the gay travel agencies that sell tickets for UAE.. Funnily enough they don´t mention it much, it seems that public sex (of whatever kind, straight or gay) might end you up in jail for some months, gay prostitution seems common enough but you might end up a year in jail as a seller and for six months as a buyer.. Unless you bribe the cops of course