On LaLiga
Biden Administration's Silence over LaLiga-MTN Partnerships Created Strategic Misalignment in U.S. Foreign Policy
Under the Biden Administration, the U.S. Mission to Spain declared that one of its top priorities was to “encourage Spain to exert greater leadership and shape policy” on the promotion of anti-corruption efforts in Africa.
The failure of the Biden Administration to speak out forcefully against the strategic partnerships between MTN and LaLiga reveals an obvious contradiction between what was declared and what was practiced.
Back in 2021, MTN and LaLiga started to broaden and deepen their strategic relationship in the context of Africa. That not only included the launch of a new digital content platform. It also included the establishment of a grassroots development partnership with the Nigeria Professional Football League for U-15 youth.
Those initiatives built on an earlier broadening and deepening of the strategic relationship between MTN and LaLiga in the context of the Middle East. That included a regional partnership between LaLiga and MTN Irancell.
Over the tenure of U.S. Ambassador (ret.) Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, the partnership between LaLiga and MTN became more and more controversial.
First, there were serious allegations that MTN Irancell was linked to U.S. designated foreign terrorist organizations (e.g., Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps). By the end of the Biden Administration, there were a total of five Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) cases against MTN in the U.S. courts.
Second, there were serious questions raised about whether LaLiga engaged in money laundering within the strategic partnerships with MTN. Some subject matter experts even called on European politicians to start regulating the European football industry over what they perceived to be financial and political malpractices.
Either of those problems would have been valid reasons for the U.S. Mission to Spain to launch a major public diplomacy campaign to put pressure on LaLiga to sever ties with MTN. But, that did not happen.
The question is why.