Sophie Robinson
Co-hosts of the 2023 Women’s World Cup – Australia and New Zealand – have criticised FIFA due to a sponsorship from Saudi Arabia’s tourist board, Visit Saudi.
Visit Saudi is set to sponsor the 32-team football tournament alongside international brands such as Coca-Cola, Adidas and Visa. Visit Saudi was a sponsor of the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year – just one sponsorship in a series of major sporting investments made by Saudi Arabia.
Human rights group Amnesty International has urged FIFA to speak out on human rights reforms in Saudi Arabia, rather than allowing the women’s tournament to be used to ‘sportswash’ the country’s image.
“As recently as 2018, women and girls in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to play sports in schools”
Despite Saudi Arabia’s controversial history of oppressing women’s rights, FIFA has ratified the deal as a new “commercial partnership structure” aimed at developing revenues specifically for women’s football. However, this has not prevented criticism from human rights groups in Australia.
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Minky Worden, Director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said that FIFA’s decision shows a “shocking disregard” for women in Saudi Arabia.
Worden said: “It is worth remembering that, as recently as 2018, women and girls in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to play sports in schools – or even to watch sports in stadiums.”
She stated that it would be better for Saudi Arabia to undertake human rights reforms and uphold basic rights for women and girls instead of using sponsorships in an attempt to rehabilitate its global image.
“FIFA has consistently shown that they lack the willingness to meet their own stated commitments”
The co-chair of the players’ union Professional Footballers Australia, Kate Gill, complained that players were not consulted on FIFA’s commercial decisions.
She continued: “Unfortunately, FIFA has consistently shown that they lack the willingness to meet their own stated commitments and this has eroded football’s ability to be a genuine force for good.”
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has made a number of legislative changes – such as ending the ban on women driving and making amendments to the oppressive guardianship law – which now allows women to travel abroad independently. Many argue, however, that there is still a long way to go.
Featured image courtesy of Retha Ferguson on Pexels. Image license found here.
