A journalist for a British national newspaper claims he was refused entry to Anthony Joshua’s knockout match with Daniel Dubois after criticising Saudi Arabia for ‘sportwashing’. The Daily Telegraph’s Oliver Brown has been banned from Wembley Stadium after calling the build-up to the season’s event in Riyadh a ‘Saudi Disneyland’.

Before the fight, Brown wrote: article headlined: “Joshua-Dubois’s brazen act of sports speculation is turning London into a Saudi Disneyland.”

Saudi Arabia invests money in a range of sports, from boxing and soccer to tennis and golf. The term “sportswashing” refers to countries and individuals using sports to improve their damaged reputations.

The Gulf kingdom has been accused of human rights abuses, including executions of political activists, discrimination against women and religious minorities, and mistreatment of migrant workers.

Brown described Joshua vs. Dubois as “a convenient vehicle for showcasing the kingdom’s prestige to the world.” Claims that a senior PR person working on the fight sent him an email a little over three hours after his article was published.

The message allegedly said: “Should I conclude from your comments that you no longer wish to participate in this event since you clearly disagree with Saudi Arabia’s involvement in boxing?”

Brown responded by telling PR he still wanted to attend the event to cover it. He claims he has received assurances that his accreditation remains dynamic from Frank Warren’s Queensbury Promotions, with details of where to pick up his pass.

But the journalist continued: “When I arrived on fight night as arranged, the press officer had an orange armband ready for me to access the upstairs media room. But then people started showing up in the lobby to say I had been denied entry and that there was nothing they could do.

“I made numerous calls and sent numerous messages asking if someone would come down to at least discuss the situation in person. All went unanswered.”

Fans were left bewildered when the Saudi national anthem was played before the British fight. Wembley also lit up in the green colours of the country’s flag as singer Rashed Al-Majed sang to the crowd.

Dubois solidified his claim as IBF heavyweight champion by knocking out Joshua in the fifth round in front of 96,000 fans. Promoter Frank Warren says that although there is no rematch clause, Dubois would be open to fighting Joshua again.

We have contacted Matchroom Boxing for comment.

Frank Warren has said he will not interfere with a potential superfight between Daniel Dubois and Tyson Fury, despite it being “awkward” to watch his two top heavyweights go head-to-head.

Dubois, 27, defended his IBF heavyweight title in spectacular style, knocking out Anthony Joshua in the fifth round during their fight at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night.

Dynamite defied all odds and thwarted Joshua’s fight with Fury by landing a right punch on AJ that knocked him out.

Fury is scheduled to face division king Oleksandr Usyk in a rematch on December 21, and Dubois has expressed interest in fighting the winner.

Warren, who manages both Dubois and Fury, admitted: “I’ll tell you honestly, I would be in a very, very awkward position if I had to fight that. I would have a problem with that.

“If that’s what they wanted and the business required it, that’s their business. It’s not something I would push. If there’s an offer that makes sense and they want to do it, that’s their business.”

Saudi boxing mogul Turki Alalshikh had ambitious plans for Joshua to face Fury next year, regardless of whether the Gypsy King beats Usyk or not.

Alalshikh envisioned Fury defeating Usyk to win the WBA, WBC and WBO belts, while Joshua would defeat Dubois to win the IBF title, which would set the stage for an undisputed clash between the Brits.

However, Dubois’ victory has dealt a stern blow to those plans, although Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn insists his client is still hopeful of a fight with Fury.

Hall of Fame promoter Warren said, “Everybody was planning on Tyson fighting AJ, and I told them it wasn’t going to happen. I told them straight up. I’m not stupid. I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

Warren defeated two-time champion Joshua, who turns 35 next month, to earn a rematch with Dubois despite suffering a one-sided defeat from his younger opponent.

He added: “I think it’s something that needs to be considered. Everything is on the table.”

Eddie Hearn has made accusations against Daniel Dubois, claiming he threw two illegal punches during his fight with Anthony Joshua.

Despite being knocked out in the fifth round by Dubois, Hearn pointed out moments where Dynamite seemed to overreact, most notably claiming that Joshua was hit “in the testicles” in the third or fourth round of the fight, which took place on Saturday night.

He expressed his frustration that Joshua did not take full advantage of the time available to him to recover, but also praised Dubois for the decisive victory.

Hearn summed up Joshua’s resilience after the knockout: “I told him he must be proud that he even made it back in the fight because after the second round, for me, the fight was over, it was over.

“Even after the last knockout, he’s trying to get back up.”

The Matchroom boss added: “He couldn’t have tried to do one more inch. When you do that, you can look yourself in the mirror. He came to the end in the trenches. People want to talk about getting down on one knee and spitting out the mouthguard.”

Hearn further stated that the unfortunate low blows could have been due to inexperience, saying: “Listen, when Daniel Dubois hit him in the balls in the third or fourth round, I was yelling at AJ to take the full five minutes.

“It’s actually a bit of inexperience. At that moment, when he couldn’t stand, he was hit full force in the chestnuts.

“He told the referee, ‘It’s all right, let’s go,’ and I said, ‘What are you doing?’ Then it happened again. He just came out to fight tonight. It was a hell of a fight. As devastated as we are, Daniel deserves a lot of credit.”

“Tonight is his coronation night. Without being elevated to interim champion, tonight is the night he showed he is a true world champion. He also has a great future ahead of him.

“Of course I still want to fight. We tried to succeed and we failed. Do we run away now or live to fight another day? I am a warrior. Always walk with your head held high.

“We’ve rolled the dice. It’s 13 world title fights, not all of them have been successful but they’ve all been fun and entertaining. We want to make history in British boxing and I think we’re doing that.”