Winners of the Bad Sport Awards 2024 announced
The Bad Sport Awards, which have been running for three years, call out the most egregious examples of sportswash and greenwash from across international sport.
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FIFA, the global governing body of football, has picked up the top award at this year’s Bad Sport Awards 2024 for its big money sponsorship deal with Saudi Aramco, the state-owned fossil fuel company of Saudi Arabia.
Alongside FIFA taking the top prize at the Bad Sport Awards 2024, the other winners included:
The Swedish ski race Vasaloppet picked up the top prize in the ‘Thin Ice’ Award (in collaboration with Save Our Snow) for its sponsorship deals with Volvo and fossil fuel company Preem.
The Hackney Half picked up the top prize in the ‘Running on Fumes’ Award (in collaboration with The Green Runners) for its ongoing partnership with the airline Wizz Air.
FIFA also took the top prize in the ‘Own Goal’ Award (in collaboration with Fossil Free Football) for making Saudi Aramco its major global partner.
Sail GP were awarded the ‘Taking People for a Ride’ Award for their recent partnership with Emirates airline.
The Guyana Global Super League cricket tournament won the ‘Bad Bet’ Award for its major partnership with fossil fuel giant ExxonMobil.
Entering its third consecutive year, the Bad Sport Awards 2024 were held in association with the sports campaigns Save Our Snow, Fossil Free Football and The Green Runners, call out the sports entities entering these polluting partnerships to draw attention to the harm they cause, including reputational and environmental risks.
The previous winners of the Bad Sport Awards 2022 and the Bad Sport Awards 2023 can be found here and here.
Andrew Simms of the Badvertising campaign and a Bad Sport Awards 2024 judge said: “The best in sport is being exploited by some of the world's worst polluters. Sport can bring people together, promote health, celebrate life and be a good example of positive social change. The Bad Sport Awards reveal those blowing smoke in the faces of athletes and fans, who use sponsorship to promote polluting products and lifestyles. Like tobacco in the old days, they need kicking out."
Frank Huisingh, founder of Fossil Free Football and Bad Sport Awards 2024 judge, said: “World Cups are just the best. Watching with friends and random strangers, celebrating and grieving together. To see those tournaments tainted by the world’s biggest polluter is simply awful. We know their tactics: using our most popular sport to tell fans misleading stories about fossil fuels and climate action, cooked up by the world’s most expensive PR-firms. We saw more than 130 female players speak out against this deal. We know fans agree with them. It’s time for FAs to stand up for their players and make sure FIFA cancels this deal.”
Anna Jonsson, of Save our Snow and a Bad Sport Awards 2024 judge, said: “Saudi Aramco's sponsorship is one of the most egregious examples of sportswashing - a whole generation of fans are being duped by the platform FIFA has created for one of the largest polluters on the planet. A few weeks ago, more than 130 women football players wrote an open letter to FIFA urging them to end this sponsorship deal. FIFA scooping the top prize at the Bad Sports Awards 2024 shows that the discontent runs deep amongst all those that care about the planet and the future of sport.”