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Liverpool has "become embroiled in the backlash against China's human rights abuses in Tibet" after campaigners called for the club to "cancel a sponsorship deal" with a Chinese company that produces mineral water at a Tibetan glacier, according to Ben Bland of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The club signed up Hong Kong-listed Tibet Water Resources as its "official water partner in China" in July, promising the company that it would "benefit from a range of promotional rights including digital media support and access to players." The opposition to Liverpool's deal with Tibet Water from the U.K.-based Free Tibet campaign group and other activists "highlights the social and political risks for European football clubs as they intensify their efforts to boost commercial revenues in China, where human rights abuses are widespread, and elsewhere in Asia." The Free Tibet group "launched a campaign against Liverpool's partnership with Tibet Water," arguing that by working with the company, the club was "effectively condoning human rights abuses stemming from China's occupation of Tibet" in 1950. Free Tibet Campaign Manager John Jones said, "When you have a prestigious and well-regarded team like Liverpool with a huge international fan base making deals with companies operating out of Tibet, it lends an air of legitimacy to the occupation and to the abuses of ... human rights" (
FT, 10/5).
