en.wikipedia.org
Sportswashing is the practice of an individual, group, corporation, or nation-state using a major or prestigious international sport to improve its reputation, through hosting a sporting event, the purchase or sponsorship of sporting teams, or by participation in the sport itself. At nation-state level, sportswashing has been used to "direct attention away from a poor human rights record and corruption scandals within local government."
See also how the International Olympic Committee allows itself to be used.