With the kick of virtual football culminating across screens worldwide, the game’s ever-growing popularity among women has become conspicuous, yet it faces challenges behind the glossy façade of stadium lights and match days. This month, over 100 female footballers have raised their voices, backing each other in calling for significant action from FIFA against its sponsorship deal with Saudi Aramco, the oil giant controlled largely by the Saudi government. This deal, inked just months ago, has dug up serious concerns among players about human rights violations and environmental repercussions connected to the kingdom’s policies.
The open letter sprung forth from the collective conscience of players brave enough to voice their angst. These concerned athletes, including famous names such as Becky Sauerbrunn and Vivianne Miedema, argue vehemently against the normalization of Saudi Arabia’s dismal human rights record—particularly its treatment of women and LGBTQ+ communities. According to them, partnering with Aramco symbolizes dismissiveness and disregard for both human rights and environmental issues.
“We call on FIFA to reconsider this partnership,” the letter states. The players went so far as to declare the deal as “worse than an own goal” when discussing its impact on the moral integrity of football worldwide. “It is not just about women’s rights, it's about human rights and climate action. All of those things are hugely important but not as important to FIFA as the sponsorship money Aramco can bring,” stated Tessel Middag, who is not just worried about the players' image but about the values such sponsorships propagate.
Signed by female players across 24 countries, the letter highlights how countries like Saudi Arabia often attempt to improve their global standing through sports investments, often termed “sportswashing.” This term refers to leveraging sports sponsorships to mask politically or ethically questionable backgrounds and actions. The climate impact of backing oil and gas companies, particularly one as prominent as Aramco, raises alarms too. Climate change has devastated grassroots football all over the world, pushing the future of the sport at risk amid rising temperatures, droughts, and natural calamities.
“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 letter excoriates. These athletes raise serious concerns, worried not only about their own safety but also the rights of the entire Saudi Arabian populace—especially women and LGBTQ+ individuals. Given Saudi Arabia's extreme laws against sexuality and regular imprisonments of women advocating for rights, the apprehensions expressed by these female players resonate on different levels.
The Saudi regime has also been notoriously known to handle numerous human rights activists with brutal finality. Reports cite cases where individuals like Manahel al-Otaibi have been sentenced to over 11 years for sharing their opinions and advocating for basic rights on platforms such as social media—all under secretive judicial proceedings.
Many players know their privilege enables them to speak out against such matters, yet they remain acutely aware of their counterparts back home, unable to raise their voices due to oppressive regimes. "We have the possibility and freedom to speak out against sponsorship deals like these, but we know women in Saudi Arabia don't have the same rights, and that's why we stand. This is about standing together with those who cannot speak," shared Sauerbrunn emphatically as she echo-pronounced her support for the initiative.
Consequently, as these athletes call for FIFA to clean house, they are also demanding the establishment of an oversight committee which would involve players' representation; aimed at ensuring sponsorship deals align with the sport’s core values. "It is imperative,” the letter emphasizes, "to assess the ethical ramifications of future sponsorship deals to safeguard against reputational damages."
Responding to the uproar, FIFA defended its collaboration with Aramco, reiteration of its focus on inclusivity and expressing purposes aligned with investments directed not only toward men’s football but women’s football too. Meanwhile, they maintain they appreciate their partnerships with companies providing necessary funding for various sports levels, including significant growth and investment directed toward women's football.
Despite FIFA's stance, questions remain if partnerships with companies responsible for severe human rights abuses are compatible with messages of equality and inclusivity advocated by institutions like FIFA and its members. Multiple critiques, including voices from human rights advocates around the world, continue to resonate through the sporting ecosystem, demanding accountability for actions and attitudes of players, sponsors, and governing bodies alike.
By speaking out, these women not only echo their shared frustrations but forge paths of solidarity across borders within the global sporting community. Their letter serves as more than just words on paper; it is, fundamentally, the proclamation of values against injustice, urging for the world of sports to remain untarnished by commercial interests when tied with human oppression.
It remains clear: the discourse shed by these footballers is imperative for not only their sport but also the enduring fight for rights of women and communities often muffled by corporate giants indulging tyrannical ways of governance. Through determination and commitment to advocacy, they aim to inspire not just on the field but also move forward the fight for justice beyond the penalty zones.
