Eddie Hearn threatens to play Saudi national anthem at every British boxing event | Boxing | Sport

Boxing promoter and Matchroom Sport chairman Eddie Hearn has defended the Saudi national anthem which was played before Anthony Joshua’s knockout win over Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium.

He threatened to play the song at every UK boxing event he promotes, despite negative reaction to the controversial pre-fight ceremony.

The fight was part of “Riyadh Season,” a series backed by the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority, headed by Turki Alalshikh, an advisor to the Saudi royal court.

Hearn has stated that, given the amount of funding boxing receives from the Middle East, he would happily play the Saudi national anthem while in the UK and has threatened to continue doing so in the future.

Hearn told iFL TV: “He (Alalshikh) gave British boxing – all the fighters, all the fans – the best night. He paid for everything. I couldn’t have put on that event, (rival promoter) Frank Warren couldn’t have put on that event.

“It’s a tribute to the work that goes into creating this event – and for 20 seconds, is it a big deal? He (Alalshikh) could do this show in Riyadh and everyone would say, ‘Oh, another big fight in Riyadh.’

“But now he’s actually gone out and spent the money to do it in the UK and given everyone the best night and all those players an incredible opportunity and we still find a way to say, ‘Yeah, but they played their national anthem.’

“And you know what? I’ll play the anthem if they want me to, for what they do, at every concert.”

There was further controversy at Wembley Stadium when a journalist from a British national newspaper claimed he was refused entry to the Joshua-Dubois fight after he criticised Saudi Arabia for “sportwashing”.

Before the fight, Oliver Brown of the Daily Telegraph wrote an article titled: “Joshua-Dubois is a brazen act of money laundering aimed at turning London into a Saudi Disneyland.”

He claims that a little over three hours after the fight, he received an email from a senior PR director working on the fight that read: “Should I conclude from your feedback that you no longer wish to be involved in the fight since you clearly disagree with Saudi Arabia’s involvement in boxing?”

After informing management that he still wished to take part in the event, he was refused entry to Wembley Stadium.

It is understood that the press area was overflowing and a number of ringside seats were lost at the last minute, further reducing the press list. Hearn also confirmed that the circumstances surrounding the incident would be reviewed.

“The level of operation of the Riyadh Season is like nothing you’ve ever seen,” Hearn added. “So when they read these things, when they see them, of course they want to know what’s going on. ‘How can we fix this? What can we do better next time?’ But His Excellency (Alalshikh) wants every event to be 100 percent perfect.

“Gareth Davies, who is a sports writer for the Telegraph, was at the event,” he said. “So the Telegraph had representation at the event. I don’t know the details of what happened.

“Some people just want to come to the bigger shows, but of course their job is to cover the biggest sporting events, so I don’t blame them. But it’s a tough job, trying to get media credentials and there are always going to be angry people. It wasn’t our responsibility, but I understand how hard it is to make sure everyone is looked after.”