Opposition continues to mount against Liverpool Football Club’s 2017 sponsorship deal with Tibet Water Resources. A petition calling on the football club to abandon the deal, saying it “lends legitimacy to the occupation [of Tibet], creating a cycle of violence and repression”, has so far received 85,000 signatures and counting. Liverpool FC has yet to comment on the matter.
The deal concerns Tibet Water Resources Ltd’s flagship product Tibet Water 5100 which is bottled at 5,100 metres above sea level in the Tibetan Himalayas. This exploitation of Tibet’s water is causing grave concerns on environmental grounds and for the millions of people living downstream in neighbouring countries who rely on Tibet’s water as well as the concerns about supporting the oppressive Chinese regime in Tibet.
The deal states that Liverpool FC, which has a growing Asian fan base, will offer Tibet Water Resources social media support and access to players past and present. However, the petition argues that the football club is in a financially robust position and does not need to seek the benefits promised by the deal with Tibet Water, citing the £148m (US$208m) that Liverpool FC received last year from television and prize money. Furthermore, it is widely recognised that Tibet Water Resources operates on Tibetan land, which has been under Chinese military occupation since the 1950s. Since then, thousands of Tibetans have suffered egregious human rights violations at the hands of the Chinese.
The petition also highlights that pollution and climate change are exacerbated by the bottling of water from Tibetan glaciers. The once pristine Tibetan landscape is now routinely mined for natural resources, especially water, with exploitative Chinese companies drawn to the fact that Tibet is the source of some of Asia’s largest rivers, which provide water to around one fifth of the world’s population.
Responding to detractors, the Hong Kong-headquartered Tibet Water Resources issued a statement on the deal in October. Citing a report published by the United Nations Development Programme, the company said that it has “helped measurably improve Tibetans’ livelihoods by providing more job opportunities, building local facilities, as well as supporting local education, medical care and poverty alleviation”. Despite this, many remain staunchly opposed to the arrangement.
Protests have been staged to showcase the outrage of fans and Tibetans alike, co-ordinated by Tibet groups and global advocacy organisation SumOfUs. On January 14 and February 4, both match days, a mobile billboard drove around Liverpool, bearing a message directed at Liverpool FC owner John W Adams: “Under Chinese rule, Tibetans are beaten and tortured for their beliefs […] Do we think this is okay?” Liverpool fans are contacting Tibet support groups directly to lend their support to the campaign.
Various campaigners, including Chodak Hunter of Tibetan Community UK North, and Sondhya Gupta of SumOfUs, have argued that deals such as these normalise the repression of the Tibetans and reward unethical Chinese companies. John Jones, the Campaigns and Communications Manager at Free Tibet, has called on Liverpool FC to listen to its fans and make it clear that “principles are more important than profits.”
Sign the petition here
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