Saudi Aramco sponsorship is a “middle finger to women’s football”

Letter signatory and Manchester City striker, Vivianne Miedema

In recent years, women’s football has surged in popularity, capturing the hearts of fans worldwide. Yet, while the meteoric rise of women's football shows that the culture of the beautiful game is shifting for the better, FIFA’s deal with Saudi Aramco signals the opposite.

In fact, for over 100 professional footballers that have signed an open letter to FIFA, the deal has been received as a ‘middle finger to women’s football.’

“Saudi Aramco is the main money-pump for Saudi Arabia," the letter states, "and its treatment of women speaks for itself." This is the same regime that only recently allowed women to drive, while jailing and torturing the activists who fought for that right. The letter highlights stories of women like fitness instructor Manahel al-Otaibi, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for promoting female empowerment on social media. What’s worse, this outrageous sentencing took place just days after FIFA announced their deal with the Saudi oil company. 

Saudi Arabia’s criminalisation of homosexuality also raises the question: how can a sport with LGBTQ+ players and fans align itself with the state-owned oil company of a regime that criminalizes their relationships? FIFA’s celebration of pride appears to have a price, as does their support of women’s rights and environmental protection. 

Saudi Aramco’s sponsorship isn’t just a disaster at the level of football’s values; it’s an existential threat to the future of the sport. Saudi Aramco is the largest corporate polluter in the world, bearing massive responsibility for the climate crisis that is already impacting grassroots football. For those that live in climate-vulnerable regions, rising temperatures, floods, and droughts are putting strain on training facilities and player health. As the letter puts it, “As we all pay the consequences, Saudi Arabia rakes in its profits, with FIFA as its cheerleader.”

What’s happening here is a textbook case of sportswashing. Saudi Aramco is using the world’s most beloved sport to greenwash its image and distract from Saudi Arabia’s horrific human rights record. FIFA’s decision to ally with Saudi Aramco is akin to letting big tobacco sponsor kids’ sporting events. This isn’t just a betrayal of football, it’s an assault on everything the women’s game symbolises.

It’s hard to see how FIFA can justify this deal. But if history has taught us anything, it’s that FIFA will justify anything if the price is right. After all, this is the same organisation that let Russia and Qatar host the last two men’s World Cups, despite widespread human rights abuses.

This time, however, players are pushing back. They know that their futures, and the future of football, are at stake. "This sponsorship is much worse than an own goal for football: FIFA might as well pour oil on the pitch and set it alight," the letter states sharply.

It’s time for FIFA to wake up. Women’s football is thriving not because of organisations like FIFA, but despite them. Players and fans deserve a future where the beautiful game is not sullied by dirty money from regimes that oppress women and LGBTQ+ people, while profiting from the climate crisis.

If FIFA is serious about inclusivity and sustainability, they should heed the call of its leading players by dropping Saudi Aramco and establishing a sponsorship review committee with player representation so that future sponsors align with the values of the sport.