Will the Saudi Arabian Tourism Authority sponsor the 2023 Women’s World Cup? The host associations of Australia and New Zealand have now taken a clear stand against it at FIFA – there are signs of a rethink.
FIFA has so far neither confirmed nor denied the sponsorship of “Visit Saudi”. The two associations that are organizing the World Cup with FIFA had already criticized the possible sponsorship and took a position on Monday (March 6th, 2023). At the beginning of February, the portal “The Athletic” made public the possible sponsorship of the World Cup by “Visit Saudi”. “Visit Saudi” sponsored the Men’s World Cup in Qatar and the Club World Cup in Morocco. The associations of Australia and New Zealand then asked FIFA for clarification and criticized not having been involved.
Sky: FIFA is considering moving away from sponsorship
British broadcaster Sky reports that FIFA is now considering moving away from the deal with Saudi Arabia. Football Association of New Zealand chief executive Andrew Pragnell told New Zealand media that he had received a response from FIFA and found it ambiguous. “FIFA has neither confirmed nor denied the potential sponsorship,” Pragnell said on Friday.
“The letter alluded to the importance of treating all member associations equally and that inclusion is better than isolation. To be honest we are a little uncertain as to what is going on here, which is a bit disappointing.” He now hopes that the letter has led to a rethink.
“This partnership does not align with our vision”
Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said: “Based on the discussions we have with our community and key stakeholders, and based on our own position, we would not be comfortable with that.” The deal has not been confirmed and the association is still waiting for clarification from FIFA.
“But we continue to send this clear message on behalf of the federations of Australia and New Zealand.” This was also the result of talks with government and trading partners. “This partnership does not align with our shared vision for the tournament.”
Australia’s head of the association James Johnson
Women’s rights restricted, homosexuality illegal
The human rights situation in Saudi Arabia is very bad. The death penalty is carried out in many cases, and the court proceedings are often considered unfair. Freedom of travel and freedom of expression are restricted. In the press freedom ranking, Saudi Arabia ranks 166th, behind Somalia, Afghanistan and Russia. According to American intelligence reports, the critical Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in Turkey on orders from the Saudi Arabian government in 2018.
Women’s rights are severely restricted in the country, homosexual acts are illegal. For several years now, Saudi Arabia has been using sport, and above all football, to polish its image as progressive and modern to the outside world. In 2023 the country will host the FIFA Club World Cup, and in 2021 the sovereign wealth fund bought the Premier League club Newcastle United.
The German captain Alexandra Popp recently said that she was “rather negative” about the possible deal, “Visit Saudi” is “not an optimal sponsor for a women’s World Cup”. Alex Morgan from the USA called the cooperation “bizarre”, her teammate Megan Rapinoe described it as “completely inappropriate”. Dutch player Vivianne Miedema said “FIFA should be ashamed”.
One-Love bandage: Infantino promises solution “before the World Cup”
Speaking at a press conference in London on Saturday following a meeting of the IFAB rules body, Infantino spoke about possible opinions from women players at the 2023 World Cup. Referring to the controversy over the One Love captain’s armband at the men’s World Cup 2022 in Qatar, he said that ” we have all experienced a learning process”. What you want to do better now is a dialogue with players, teams and associations.
It should be explored which viewpoints can be expressed “without hurting others”. A solution should be available “before the World Cup”. At the 2022 World Cup, FIFA left the associations from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, England, Belgium, Switzerland and Wales in the dark about whether the bandage would be allowed or not until shortly before the start. For the German Football Association, the matter ended with a PR crisis, and the team was eliminated in the group phase.