 "The wives of two Mallorca footballers have claimed that they were 'groped and filmed' by locals in Saudi Arabia. Image: AP")
Questions are being raised about Saudi Arabia being awarded the 2034 FIFA World Cup hosting rights after the wives of two footballers alleged sexual harassment by locals following a Spanish Super Cup game between Real Madrid and Mallorca at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah on Thursday.
The incident took place after Mallorca’s 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid as Cristina Palavra, wife of Mallorca midfielder Dani Rodríguez, and Natalia Kaluzova, wife of Mallorca goalkeeper Dominik Greif, tried to exit the stadium. They have claimed that locals “harassed, groped and filmed” them as they tried to leave the stadium.
Footballers’ wives ‘groped’ by local fans in Saudi Arabia
“The exit was a bit complicated. We left with our kids and we had no security. The truth is that some men from this country started taking photos of us from close up and were harassing us," Palavra told Esports IB3. “The same thing happened to Natali, the wife of Dominik Greif. I was with my daughter, who was asleep. We felt uncomfortable. We didn’t have anyone to protect us. The exit was very bad.”
Natalia told Marca that the harassers even shoved the phone in their faces. “They made videos of us and pushed us and they groped us, shoved phones in our face and filmed us.”
The Spanish media outlet Marca has also released a video that appears to show several men wearing Real Madrid jerseys recording videos and laughing as a group of Mallorca fans walked past to board chartered buses.
Groping incidents raise concerns about Saudi Arabia’s treatment of women
Mallorca has officially stated that around 250 people were harassed as they tried to leave the King Abdullah Sports City stadium. Mallorca club official Alfonso Diaz also admitted to Esport IB3 that women were “groped” and the club has already informed the Spanish FA about the “completely unacceptable” incident.
The sexual harassment allegations have put in focus the Spanish FA’s decision to move the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia in 2020 on a $40 million-a-year contract. The deal was signed by controversial former president Luis Rubiales.
Saudi Arabia has constantly faced criticism for its poor record on women’s rights, however, Rubiales had defended the decision by stating that the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia will help local women, who will attend future matches.
The groping and harassment incident would also attract more scrutiny to FIFA’s decision to award the 2034 FIFA World Cup hosting rights to the Middle-East country despite human rights groups constantly putting the spotlight on Saudi Arabia’s poor treatment of women and minorities.