It’s a sign of respect – Eddie Hearn defends playing Saudi anthem at Wembley

Eddie Hearn has said he would play the Saudi anthem at every fight if the country bankrolling boxing asked him to.

There was criticism over the decision to play the anthem ahead of Saturday’s heavyweight fight between Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua at Wembley, amid further accusations the Middle East nation was attempting to ‘sportswash’ its reputation as a repressive regime.

The fight was part of ‘Riyadh Season’, a series backed by the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority under the chairmanship of Turki Alalshikh, an advisor in the country’s royal court.

Hearn said that, for the money Turki has pumped into the sport, he was more than entitled to have the anthem played as a “sign of respect”.

“He’s given British boxing – all the fighters, all the fans – the best night, he’s paid for it all,” Hearn told iFL TV.

“I couldn’t have put that event up, (rival promoter) Frank Warren couldn’t have put that event up.

“It’s a sign of respect for the work that’s been put in to create this event – and for 20 seconds, is it a big deal?

“He (Turki) could have done that show in Riyadh and everyone could go, ‘Oh, another big fight in Riyadh’.

“But now he’s actually gone out, spent the money to do it in the UK and give everybody just the best night and all these fighters all these incredible opportunities and we still find a way to say, ‘Yeah, but they played their national anthem’.

“Well, you know what? I’ll play the anthem if they want, for what they’re doing, at every show.”

Hearn insisted there was “no agenda” behind Saudi’s involvement in the sport, adding: “Everything behind it is a passion to create great events. Riyadh Season, like any sponsor, would be looking for the benefits, a brand to be seen globally, to raise the profile.”

Hearn also appeared to claim a row over accreditation at Wembley was about nothing more than a lack of space.

Daily Telegraph reporter Oliver Brown said his pass for the fight was revoked after he wrote an opinion piece on Friday criticising Saudi involvement in boxing.

Hearn said there were over 350 applications for accreditation and added: “Gareth Davies, who is a sports writer at the Telegraph, was at the event.

“So the Telegraph had representation at the event. I don’t know the ins and outs of what happened.

“Some people want to just come to the bigger shows, but obviously their job is to cover the biggest events in sport, so I don’t blame them for that.

“But it’s not an easy job trying to take care of the media accreditations and there are always going to be upset people.

“It wasn’t our responsibility, but I do understand how difficult it is that everyone is looked after.”

Hearn claimed the Saudi organisers were “not involved” in organising the accreditation but said they would review all aspects of the fight preparation.

“The level of operation from Riyadh Season is like nothing you’ve ever seen before,” Hearn added.

“So when they read this stuff of course, when they see it, they want to know what’s going on. How can we fix it? What can we do better next time? But His Excellency (Turki) wants every event to be 100 per cent perfect.”

Brown said he received a text from a PR executive on Friday asking whether they should assume, based on the opinions he expressed, he no longer wanted to attend the fight.

Brown said he was perfectly happy to still attend and speak to the individual about the article, an offer he says was not taken up. He says he then received a separate email from Queensberry Promotions confirming his accreditation and where to collect it.

On the night he was told by individuals present his entry was being denied and there was nothing they could do about it.

The Football Association was understood to have been disappointed at what happened and urged reporters to contact it if a similar situation arose in future and it would attempt to resolve the dispute.

However, sources close to football’s national governing body said the final decision on accreditation would always rest with the promoter who had hired out Wembley for the event in question.