Don't miss my NYTimes front page feature

It's been a long time coming.

Screenshot from the front page of Monday’s New York Times

Some big news. My latest article, co-written with the excellent Tariq Panja, is featured on the front page of the Monday June 19 edition of the New York Times paper.

While this isn’t the first time that my work has been featured in the Times, it is my debut appearance on the front page—a significant milestone in career.

Here are some of the details:

1. The article is about football great Lionel Messi’s ongoing partnership with the Saudi Arabia’s tourism authority.

2. The Times was able to review a version of Messi’s contract with Saudi’s tourism authority, shedding light on some of tantalizing details.

3. Among the stipulations: Messi cannot say anything that might “tarnish” Saudi Arabia, a country that has faced widespread criticism for its human rights record.

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In many ways, this article is also the culmination of more than a year of reporting on Messi’s relationship with Saudi Arabia. It began in May 2022, when I published a piece for The Guardian calling him a “posterboy for sportswashing.”|

I also wrote about Messi’s trip to Saudi Arabia last month—a trip that led to him being suspended from the Qatar-funded Paris Saint-Germain.

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