Leeds United waded into another PR quagmire yesterday with the news that they are set to tour war torn Myanmar in May.
Myanmar's military is currently carrying out an ethnic cleansing regime of the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority in the country. The regime has seen 400,000 Rohingya refugees flee the predominantly Buddhist country.
So the club's move to stage two friendlies there was met with widespread condemnation yesterday with England shadow sports minister Dr Rosena Allin-Khan telling BBC that "It is morally corrupt for a football team to partake in a post-season tour to promote a country which carries out state-sponsored mass murder".
However Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani's is not going to rethink the move, revealing his reasons to fans in an open letter today:
I wanted to take this opportunity to give more background on the Club’s trip to Myanmar in May.
I have spent over 10 years living in Asia and Myanmar is a country I have visited on many occasions. I am aware of the serious issues within the country, but I also know that it is a beautiful place filled with incredibly warm and welcoming people. It is somewhere very close to my heart.
I also want to be clear that I am active in the Southeast Asia region with ongoing business practices that provide jobs and help to develop the local sports and media sectors. I have similar goals for Myanmar, along with many other British businesses that trade with and operate in the country presently.
Football is extremely popular in Myanmar and I believe the game we all love has the power to help developing nations by bringing people together, especially young people. That is why I wanted to take the team on a post-season tour to play matches and run coaching clinics with children from the area.
It all comes across as overly altruistic from Radrizzani, but surely simply by co-operating with the Myanmar authorities the club is turning a blind eye to the atrocities that are taking place on the government's watch.
Radrizzani added that the club is not receiving any money to play the two friendly matches, arguing that the tour will have a positive impact on the local community:
This was a carefully considered decision and we knew it would be controversial, but this is about people not governments.
It has never been my intention, nor that of the club, to get involved in a political debate in Myanmar. However, if because of the tour we further highlight the ongoing serious issues in certain areas of the country, then maybe that is a positive thing.
Radrizzani's final comment is a shockingly glib remark given the turmoil facing the Rohinhya people, and the Leeds owner would do well to cave to popular consensus when it comes to touring countries with genocidal governments, if only for the selfish reason of bad publicity.
