Female Soccer Stars Criticize Sponsorship Deal with Saudi Aramco
Over 100 female professional soccer players signed an open letter urging FIFA to cancel a sponsorship agreement with Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco, saying that the deal was insulting to women’s sport.
The letter stated that “for most of us, our experience now is unrecognisable from the women who came before us.” The letter stated that “for many of us, our experiences now are unrecognisable compared to those women who came before.”
It continued, “But FIFA’s announcement of Saudi Aramco’s’major partner’ has set us back so far that it is hard to fully comprehend.”
Saudi Aramco, which is 98.5 percent state-owned, is Saudi Arabia’s main source of revenue. Saudi Arabia has spent billions on sports sponsorships to try and distract from its brutal reputation for human rights, but the treatment of women speaks volumes.
FIFA and ARAMCO announced their partnership in April of 2024. ARAMCO sponsors Formula One motor racing, the Ladies European Tour Golf Championship and other sports.
Saudi Arabia is focusing on sports and entertainment as part of its 2030 Vision plan to open its economy and society and reduce its reliance on crude oil. The Saudi Arabian government has made progress in the rights of women over the past eight years. However, the signatories to the letter said that abuses continue against women.
The letter listed a number of women currently in prison, or whose right to travel or leave their home has been restricted because they have publicly spoken out in support of freedom of expression or women’s human rights.
The article highlighted the case Salma al-Shehab. She is a former dental hygiene PhD student and mother of two at Leeds University in the UK, who has been sentenced to 27 years for tweeting in support of free speech.
She was released from jail in early 2021 but is still subject to a travel ban. She was released in early 2021, but still faces a travel ban.
The letter highlighted the recent case involving fitness instructor Manahel Al-Otaibi. She was sentenced to eleven years in prison in March under ‘antiterrorism’ laws for promoting women empowerment on social media.
The letter continued: “Other women currently imprisoned simply for peacefully expressing their views are 18-year-old Manal al Gafiri (imprisoned 18 years), Fatima Al-Shawarbi (30 Years), Sukaynah Al-Aithan (40%), and Nourah Qahtani (45%).”
The letter went beyond the issue of women’s rights to criticise Saudi Arabia’s stance towards LGBTQ+ rights and the fact that the deal with a oil company was not logical in an age of climate changes.
It read: “Imagine LGBTQ+ athletes, many of whom have been heroes in our sport, expected to promote Saudi Aramco at the 2027 World Cup. The national oil company of the regime that criminalises their relationships and values?”
“Finally, as the largest state-owned oil and gas company in the world, Saudi Aramco is one of the corporations which is most responsible for burning football’s future Grassroots football across the world is being smashed by extreme heat, drought, fires and floods, but as we all pay the consequences Saudi Arabia rakes in its profits, with FIFA as its cheerleader.”
The FIFA-Aramco agreement lasts until 2027, and includes rights to a number major tournaments including the World Cup in 2026 and Women’s World Cup 2027.
The Zurich-based soccer organization does not appear to be planning on ending the agreement.
In response to the letter, FIFA said: “FIFA values our partnership with Aramco as well as its many commercial and rights partners.”
