Earlier this season, whispers began to circulate that Saudi investment may soon be landing in English rugby.
Reports filtered through in February that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) were exploring investing in four English Premiership rugby clubs (Newcastle Falcons, Leicester Tigers, Northampton Saints, and Gloucester).
PIF have already made their presence felt in English football, with their ownership of Newcastle United drawing much attention due to the PIF's strong links to the Saudi Arabian state.
Many have seen the move into team ownership as a form of "sports washing," an attempt to divert attention away from the human rights abuses being carried out in the Gulf state.
It appears as though the PIF have not been deterred by the criticism of their Newcastle United ownership, and are ready to move into English rugby.
Those purported moves have already received the backing of one former England captain in the form of Dylan Hartley, and Mike Tindall has now added his name to the list of those in favour.
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Mike Tindall gives disappointing assessment of potential Saudi investment in English rugby
Amnesty International are among the organisations to have reported on the dire human rights conditions in Saudi Arabia, and they have been persistent in drawing attention to the state's efforts in sportswashing.
The organisation has spoken out on a range of topics, from the establishment of the LIV Golf series, to Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Al Nassr, which began a mass movement of footballing veterans to the Saudi Pro League.
In an interview on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast, ex-England captain Mike Tindall was asked for his take on potential Saudi investment in English rugby.
The former centre, who earned 75 caps during his 11-year international career, gave a fairly tone-deaf answer which appeared to deflect attention from the serious issues at play.
We seem to be a sport which never gets rewarded for our loyalty and our values. I also think [Amnesty International] is one side of the coin.
If you went and spoke to UAE people looking at the west, they would have their view on how we run our countries; our country is not perfectly run at the moment, there are loads of issues around that.
If you put it back to a sporting context, I don’t think it is really relevant. Every other sport is taking money from Saudi Arabia. Aramco have been putting money into numerous sports for years and years.
There are several issues with Tindall's response which make it a particularly tone-deaf statement.
Tindall does not attempt to deny that there are legitimate moral quandaries about accepting Saudi investment - but the 45-year-old does appear to suggest that the health of rugby is more important than the human rights abuses allegedly being carried out in the state.
Another particularly frustrating element of Tindall's statement is the 'whataboutism' of his drawing attention to the "issues" in the UK.
It is, of course, true and welcome to point out that there are significant standard-of-living issues in the UK.
However, Tindall has fallen into the same trap that we've seen in many social media clips of Newcastle United fans in recent years: he is not actually showing that he cares in any way about those issues, or has any material interest in them being fixed. They are merely being used as a shield to deflect from the more grievous issues being carried out in Saudi Arabia.
The comments from Mike Tindall are especially disappointing given his status in English rugby. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Gloucester, the club at which Tindall spent nine years, are among those reportedly set to earn major investment from the PIF.
With PIF now owning a golf series as well as a Premier League club, a Formula 1 Grand Prix in Jeddah, and the 2034 World Cup seemingly destined for Saudi Arabia, it does not appear that the state's involvement in sport will lessen any time soon.
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