Sportswashing

Sportswashing is the practice of an individual, group, corporation, or nation-state using sport to improve its reputation, through hosting a sporting event, the purchase or sponsorship of sporting teams, or by participation in the sport itself. At nation-state level, sportswashing has been used to direct attention away from a poor human rights record. While at the individual or Corporate level sportswashing is used to cover up and direct away attention from said person's or company's vices, crimes, or scandals. Sportswashing has been called a form of whitewashing.
Overview.
At the nation-state level, sportswashing has been described as part of a nation's soft power. Russia's hosting of the 2018 FIFA World Cup has been cited as an example, as the country's global reputation was low due to its foreign policy and the event led to the stoppage of discussions related to it, and were instead focused on how successful the World Cup was and how friendly the Russian people were.
People from nations accused of sportswashing often argue that they simply want to enjoy sporting events in their home nations and that sporting boycotts and event re-location are both unfair on sporting fans and ineffective in changing government policy.
Companies that have been accused of sportswashing include Ineos, who became the main sponsor of the cycling's Team Sky in 2019, which lead to it being renamed Team Ineos and later the Ineos Grenadiers, and Arabtec, a company from the UAE who sponsored Manchester City F.C..
Sportswashing is considered a potentially costly form of propaganda. For example, In March 2021 human rights organization Grant Liberty said that Saudi Arabia alone has spent at least $1.5 billion on alleged sportswashing activities.