It is official: Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 edition of the FIFA World Cup, the biggest sporting event in the world. The anticipated and highly controversial decision was announced last Wednesday during FIFA's congress in Zurich, which also assigned the centenary 2030 edition to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco (with the inaugural games being played in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay). This represents Riyadh's growing sportswashing operation. The latter is defined as the deflection of criticism through the instrumentalisation of sports events, as Riyadh has already done with Formula 1 and tennis. Sticking to football, however, this article will focus on how women’s football, the Premier League, top players, and other FIFA countries are responding to Saudi pressure.
First, female footballers are uniting to stop what they see as a ‘middle finger’ to women’s football. Last April, FIFA, football’s global governing body, announced a sponsorship deal with Saudi-owned oil firm Aramco. A leader in its sector, Aramco’s sponsorship will most importantly cover the men’s 2026 and the women’s 2027 World Cups. FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, has expressed his satisfaction with the agreement, as the deal is claimed to support all member associations and contribute to the emergence of new grassroots sports movements across the world, as echoed by Aramco’s CEO Amin H. Nasser.
In an open letter, female football players have requested FIFA to end the sponsorship deal due to Saudi Arabia's controversial stances on women's rights and the LGBTQ+ community. The women's game is shown to be closing the gap with the men’s in terms of revenue, creating an opportunity to make the beautiful game more inclusive than ever. Instead, FIFA’s decision to collaborate with Saudi Arabia overlooks the systemic human rights violations perpetrated against women and the LGBT community perpetrated by Riyadh. Moreover, what Aramco acclaimed as the promotion of grassroots movements would actually be prevented by Saudi contribution to climate change. The choice of Saudi Arabia following Russia and Qatar confirms institutional sexism within FIFA, as football’s decision-makers promote oppressive regimes despite claiming to set new inclusivity standards. FIFA is yet to respond to the players’ demands to establish a review committee for future partnerships.
Second, the Saudis have taken over Newcastle United, a prestigious English club best known for Alan Shearer’s spell between 1996 and 2006. In recent years, the team had experienced a fall from grace, as it was owned by the widely unpopular Mike Ashley. Sensing an opportunity, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has expressed interest in the club’s takeover, which was welcomed by fans and the government in the hope of improving their results and receiving investments in their underdeveloped region. Amnesty International has readily accused the operation of sportswashing, and Qatar-owned TV service and Premier League broadcasting rights holder BeIn Sports has opposed the deal, claiming the Saudis were favouring piracy. The British government has pushed for reaching a deal, aiming to improve British-Saudi relations. The takeover was then declared legal as rules did not prevent takeovers on moral grounds. In 2022, Newcastle United were readmitted into European football royalty, as they qualified for the UEFA Champions League after 20 years.
The third case is the affiliation of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (arguably the two best footballers of all time) with the country. Starting with Ronaldo, he has become the major testimonial of the Saudi Pro League after his transfer from Manchester United to Al-Nassr in 2022. The league was supposed to establish itself against other Asian championships, and possibly rival European ones. However, crowd attendance is still low, players are citing economic rather than sporting reasons for their transfers, and there have been some disappointing results in the AFC Champions League. As for Messi, he has secured a deal with Riyad’s tourism authority, advertising the country’s landmarks through social media posts, commercial appearances, and vacations.
Finally, Saudi aims in football reached their peak with the victory of Riyadh’s bid to host the 2034 edition of the men’s World Cup, as addressed in a past article by our colleague Phillip. In sum, hosting opportunities are given on a continental basis. The last tournament was hosted by Qatar during Asia’s turn. The next edition in 2026 will span across Canada, the United States, and Mexico, covering North America in a super-enlarged tournament of 48 teams. However, what will happen in 2030 is truly unprecedented. The formal hosts will be Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, becoming the first tournament to span across two continents. The three countries have won a contest over the South American bloc of Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay. But, since this edition will fall on the centenary of the first World Cup played in Uruguay, the first few games will be played in Montevideo, Argentina, and Paraguay, ‘wasting’ South America’s turn to host an entire tournament. With Australia and New Zealand (and thus Oceania) backing out, the only credible bid in Asia remained the Saudi one. FIFA president Gianni Infantino is rumoured to have played a significant role in the acceptance of Saudi Arabia’s bid, continuing a series of controversies among football governance.
In 2015, FIFA’s corruption was uncovered in a scandal concerning the assignment of the 2010 World Cup, the first to be played on the African continent. Despite Morocco having won the vote, South Africa bribed officials to gain the right to host the tournament. Morocco’s hopes to host footballing events would fade again with the 2015 African Cup of Nations, as the country renounced hosting due to fears of the Ebola epidemic and was expelled from the tournament. More recently, FIFA has been investigated on charges of money laundering during the 2018 and 2022 world cups.
Football was never apolitical, but the increase of disputed affiliations is becoming concerning. To prevent other controversies, the Premier League has decided to revise takeovers, adding the possibility to block buyers guilty of or investigated for violating human rights. The Starmer Administration is also planning to build an independent football regulator, to which UEFA reacted by threatening the revocation of the hosting rights for EURO 2028 to the UK and Ireland, and the exclusion of British clubs from UEFA competitions. The decision has been praised by the British Government, but the European Football Federation (UEFA) has advised against it. While other leagues refuse to take action, the German Bundesliga has made a U-turn after fans protested against the opening to foreign investment in German clubs. Will Europe shield itself from sportswashing? With the super-enlarged Club World Cup in 2025 approaching, will Europe lose its monopoly on club football, and will the game become truly global?
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