Liverpool legend John Barnes poses with the club’s commercial director Billy Hogan and Tibet Water executive director Sunny Wong LFC
Photo: independent.co.uk
The British campaign to lobby Liverpool Football Club to pull out of its controversial deal with the Chinese company Tibet Water Resources Ltd has gained momentum as 25 Members of Parliament send the club an open letter.
The Members of Parliament, who represent constituencies from across the United Kingdom and political spectrum, have called on the club to end its partnership and reaffirm its commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights. The partnership between Tibet Water and the football club is lucrative for both parties, offering a range of promotional and marketing rights.
The 25 parliamentarians say the deal “is not consistent” with the values promoted in Liverpool FC’s human rights framework and that Tibet Water is only able to operate in Tibet as a result of the Chinese occupation and the human rights violations that uphold it. They call on Liverpool FC “to terminate the agreement.”
Tibet is well documented as living under one of the world’s most repressive regimes. The Chinese government severely restricts all fundamental rights and freedoms of Tibetans living there and people continue to face arbitrary arrest, torture and indefinite detention.
MPs from the Liverpool area have joined the campaign, including Stephen Twigg, MP for Liverpool West Derby, and Dan Carden, MP for Liverpool Walton, who are understood to have written to the club expressing their concern about the partnership.
Tibet advocacy groups in the UK and from around the world, together with the international consumer group SumOfUs, launched the campaign calling for an end to the deal in October last year with letters to Liverpool FC and a petition signed by nearly 90,000 people, many of whom, including Liverpool fans, have contacted Liverpool FC directly.
John Jones, Campaigns and Communications Manager at Free Tibet said the deal has “encountered strong opposition from Tibetans and Liverpool fans […]. We are delighted to see that they have been joined in their struggle by a bold, principled group of MPs, from Liverpool and around the UK. Their letter makes it clear that they firm in their belief that human rights must come before profits”.
Sondhya Gupta, Senior Campaigner at SumOfUs, said, “25 MPs have now joined the nearly 90,000 people from all over the world who want to see Liverpool FC live up to its values on human rights. Fans don’t want to see their club lend legitimacy to the Chinese military occupation of Tibet”.
To date, no response has been received from Liverpool FC.
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