News - Middle East: Human Rights Watch has released an important statement on Wednesday regarding Saudi Arabia's intense activity in recruiting football stars.

The organization stated in a post on its social media accounts that "the enormous amounts of money spent by Saudi Arabia on sports and entertainment events to improve its image hide a gruesome reality, including the continued arbitrary imprisonment of dozens of human rights activists."

The HRW statement added that repression in Saudi Arabia has reached a point where peaceful tweets expressing an opinion can lead to the death penalty imposed by the Saudi regime.

Significantly, Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars in the past two months to buy international football stars to play in the Saudi league.

Last week, HRW published a report on genocide committed by the Saudi army against African migrants on the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The report sparked widespread international reactions against Saudi Arabia. The country rushed to deny the report, claiming that the HRW was funded by Riyadh's enemies.