On Monday, it became clear that Falsterbo Horse Show is changing its name to Al Shira'aa Falsterbo Horse Show. The sponsor, Al Shira'aa Stables, is backed by Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan. She is a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.
The decision has sparked criticism - primarily that the name change is a case of sportswashing to conceal the United Arab Emirates' lack of human rights.
Jana Wannius wonders why such a discussion is taking place in Sweden.
I wonder where you draw the line? The competition will be just like usual. There are very many opinions no matter what you do in equestrian sports. When you sign similar agreements in, for example, Hamburg or England, there are no reactions at all, he says to SVT.
The sponsorship agreement is, according to him, written to "secure the future".
We need to get good riders here, so we need to have good prize money so that we can also compete with other competitions.
Johan Fyrberg, Secretary-General of the Swedish Equestrian Federation, tells SVT that it is up to the competition to decide who they sign agreements with. But that it is important to follow the development forward.
I understand that a collaboration with a party that has challenges with human rights raises questions. We must follow that closely.
The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven absolute monarchies in the form of sheikhdoms, or emirates. Within each individual emirate, all power lies with the ruler, the emir.
The emirates form a federation today and constitute an independent state, but they are still family-run.
Source: Landguiden (UI)
