Overview
- Romano posted a sponsored video promoting the King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Centre, citing 4,212 projects in 113 countries and 540,000 mines cleared under Project Masam.
- The video appeared during heightened regional hostilities, with outlets noting reports of Iranian drone strikes inside Saudi Arabia over the weekend.
- Replies from his more than 27 million followers on X accused him of running state-backed PR and claimed the move damaged his credibility.
- Media commentary labeled the promotion an example of sportswashing and a conflict of interest given his coverage of the Saudi Pro League and Saudi investment in global sport.
- Reports noted he returned to regular football posts without a substantive response, as some coverage contrasted the humanitarian claims with human-rights execution figures cited by ESOHR.