Khashoggi fiancee 'heartbroken' over Italy Super Cup

Rome (AFP) – The Turkish fiancee of murdered Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi said Tuesday she was “heartbroken” that the Italian Super Cup was being played in Saudia Arabia.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and US resident, was killed in October 2018 by Saudi agents while at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul to obtain paperwork ahead of his wedding to Hatice Cengiz.

The former royal insider turned dissident was strangled and his body dismembered inside the consulate.

A UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions has said there was “credible evidence” linking the powerful crown prince to the killing, but the kingdom strongly denies he was involved.

“It is heartbreaking that a country that has an allegedly state-sponsored murder that is still unresolved be given the gift of having Italians play football on its soil,” Cengiz told the foreign press association in Rome.

“I know how Italians feel about football,” she said ahead of Sunday’s match in Riyadh between defending champions Juventus and Coppa Italia holders Lazio.

“Yes I understand there has been an invitation, and I understand the economic side of this, and I also understand that it is not possible to boycott it. But don’t you think that this is going to be used politically?” she said.

The last Italian Super Cup was overshadowed by controversy with calls for it to be relocated over human rights issues in Saudi Arabia.