Why play the Saudi national anthem before an all-British boxing match?

Last weekend I went to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the second time in my life. At least I felt like I was in Arabia. I’m talking about the Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois fight at Wembley Stadium. Billed as a British version of George Foreman vs. Joe Frazier, it was financed by the Saudis and could well have been held in Riyad.

The master of ceremonies was not Michael Buffer, the American announcer at the time, although he was there and said, “Let’s get ready for a fight!” – but His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia. His mustachioed face, framed by a headgear, constantly appeared on the jumbotrons above our heads, and we could see him in close-up, standing at attention as the Saudi national anthem was played. Yes, that’s right. Even though it was an all-British fight in the most famous arena in our country, “God Save the King” was played only after “Ash al-Malik”.

I wasn’t there at the invitation of the organizers, which was good, because someone who was there – Oliver Brown, Telegraphmajor sports writer – was rejected for writing something critical of “Saudi sportswashing” the day before. I hope that if I had witnessed this, I would have turned on my heel and followed him back to Wembley Way. The fact that he was refused entry for criticizing the Gulf kingdom is outrageous, considering it was a heavyweight title fight on British soil and he is an accredited sports journalist.

A friend gave me four tickets and I took Caroline, my son Freddie and his boxing-obsessed friend. We didn’t exactly have ringside seats, but they were one level down and had a pretty good view. The guy sitting next to me, who had paid £750 for his seat, had been there since 4pm to get his money’s worth, but we only arrived just before 8pm, halfway through the penultimate fight of the undercard.

When it was over Caroline and I went out to buy some drinks and by the time we got back we had missed the second fight which was stopped in the first round. There was then a long break while the cameraman wandered the ringside seats, looking for celebrities. They appeared on giant screens, some pretending not to notice, others smiling and waving. The only one I recognized was Baby Spice after the music director dropped a serious hint while playing “Wannabe.”

The video feed then switched to the tunnel leading to the ring, and a figure appeared in the shadows, arms swinging from side to side in what looked like a parody of macho pride. Was it Joshua or Dubois? It was actually Liam Gallagher, performing to warm up, followed by a group of musicians in tight jeans. Unfortunately not Oasis. They went to the stage opposite the ring and started with a performance of “Rock’n’Roll Star”, which brought the 96,000-strong audience to its feet. I’m not enough of a fan to say whether the other two numbers they played – it was a short set – contained more Oasis songs, but they sounded kind of the same. Later, some people complained on social media that Liam was not in tune with the mood, and he responded with an expletive-filled tirade.

Before the main event, we sang two national anthems, followed by our unofficial national anthem, “Sweet Caroline”, which, needless to say, was the only one to which the audience knew the words. Then more foreplay in the form of a Guy Ritchie TV fight ad, which seemed a bit pointless considering no one needed any persuasion. At the end, there was a long “walk around the ring” of two fighters, first Dubois and then Joshua, accompanied by appropriately boastful music – Godfather main theme, etc. – and fireworks overhead. We were finally ready to fight.

What followed was somewhat anticlimactic as it only lasted five rounds. It’s true that I was upset that Dubois, who was the underdog, managed to knock out the two-time heavyweight champion, but from the first round it was obvious that Dubois would win. He caught Joshua on the chin with an overhand right hand that sent the former champion to his knees and would have been the end of him had the bell not rung. Then the only question was how long Joshua could last.

Truth be told, I had quite a good evening in the capital of Saudi Arabia. But I’m glad I didn’t pay £3,000 to listen to three songs by an Oasis cover band and watch a fight that ended in 15 minutes.