Women’s Soccer Players Demand FIFA Drop Aramco Sponsorship

More than 100 women’s soccer players have demanded FIFA drop Saudi oil giant Aramco as a sponsor on humanitarian and environmental grounds. They called the partnership “a middle finger to women's soccer.”

In an open letter addressed to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the players stated the partnership “has set us so far back that it’s hard to fully take in.”

“The Saudi authorities trample not only on the rights of women, but on the freedom of all other citizens too,” read the letter, signed by players from 24 countries. “Imagine LGBTQ+ players, many of whom are heroes of our sport, being expected to promote Saudi Aramco during the 2027 World Cup, the national oil company of a regime that criminalizes the relationships they are in and the values they stand for.”

The letter also raised environmental concerns. Aramco is the largest oil producer in the world, and is 98.5 percent owned by Saudi Arabia. In April 2024, FIFA announced Aramco as its “Major Worldwide Partner” in an agreement that will run through to the end of 2027, which will see the state-owned oil giant sponsor the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, as well as the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

The letter asks FIFA to replace Aramco “with alternative sponsors whose values align with gender equality, human rights and the safe future of our planet.”

“We can’t turn a blind eye to these harms,” Danish player Sofie Pedersen told me. “We’ve asked FIFA three very simple questions: how can they justify the sponsorship given FIFA's human rights commitments, how can they justify the sponsorship given its climate commitments, and whether they will commit to setting up a sponsorship review panel with player representation.”

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A midfielder at Inter Milan with 88 caps for her national team, Pedersen was one of the architects behind the letter, alongside Tessel Middag from the Netherlands and Katie Rood from New Zealand. The captains of the Canadian, Italian, and Croatian national teams, as well as the former captains of both the U.S. and Afghanistan national teams, signed the letter that demands FIFA establish a review committee for players to have a voice.

“I don’t want to promote a company that has a big responsibility for the climate crisis and still has no plans to phase out its oil production,” said Pedersen. “And, it is owned by the Saudi authorities, who discriminate against women and violate human rights so brutally. We mention serious violations against women in the letter and could have mentioned a lot more. For example, the fact that there is still a male guardianship system in place in Saudi Arabia, where a woman is obliged to have a male guardian who can get her imprisoned for having acted ‘disobediently.’ This is not right.”

Saudi Arabia has been heavily criticized for human rights violations, its treatment of women, and the criminalization of homosexuality, but in recent years, the Arab Kingdom has invested heavily in sports, prompting accusations of sportswashing. Aramco sponsors Formula One, golf’s Ladies European Tour, and the International Cricket Council.

In a statement FIFA said: “FIFA values its partnership with Aramco and its many others commercial and rights partners. FIFA is an inclusive organisation with many commercial partners also supporting other organisations in football and other sports."

"Sponsorship revenues generated by FIFA are reinvested back into the game at all levels and investment in women's football continues to increase, including for the historic FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 and its groundbreaking new distribution model. As well as the increased support for teams at the tournament last year, FIFA’s updated Women’s Football Strategy for 2023-2027 further highlights how commercial revenues are reinvested back into the development of the women’s game. FIFA’s financial figures are also published annually."

The global governing body added that it established "seven standing committees for the women's game at all levels, including the Women's Players Committee" in May.

It’s not the first time that controversy has surrounded Saudi sponsorship of FIFA. In January 2023, Visit Saudi was reported to become a partner of that year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. FIFA, however, faced considerable backlash over the proposed Visit Saudi deal, and at the FIFA congress in Kigali, Rwanda, last year, Infantino said: “I can clarify that there were discussions with Visit Saudi. At the end, this discussion didn’t lead to a contract. How do you say it? It was a storm in a water glass. A storm in a teacup.”

In December, FIFA is expected to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia. The Arab Kingdom is the sole bidder for the tournament after other eligible nations were given less than a month to express their interest. So far, not a single national soccer federation has protested against the controversial nature of the bidding process or Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

With their letter, the women’s players want to hold FIFA accountable. Middag, who plies her trade for Rangers in Scotland, explained: “FIFA has a human rights policy and sustainability policy in place – it just needs to uphold them. The facts about Saudi Arabia – the women who are incarcerated, the criminalization of LGBTQ+ relationships, the polluting of the planet – are hard facts that cannot be washed away. Values are not just words on the page – FIFA needs to follow through on the values it says it holds.”

She added: “It’s simple – human rights for Saudi women and a safe planet for all of us are so much more vital than money for FIFA. There is no bigger benefit than rights and our planet.”