Last Tuesday, the existence of an agreement between Saudi Arabia and FIFA became public, which would place the country as one of the sponsors of the next summer’s Women’s Football World Cup. Inevitably, the news arrived accompanied by some distrust regarding the compatibility between a women’s tournament and a country that represses women’s freedom.
Human rights groups were the first to demonstrate. “It would be a great irony for the Saudi tourist body to sponsor the biggest celebration of women’s sport in the world when you consider that, as a woman in Saudi Arabia, you cannot even hold a job without permission from your male guardian,” said Nikita White, representative of Amnesty International Australia told Reuters.
But it wasn’t just the activists who were unhappy with the news, the competition’s organizing countries (Australia and New Zealand) are also looking for an “urgent” clarification on this agreement.
“Football Australia understands that FIFA has entered into a partnership agreement in relation to the 2023 Australia & New Zealand World Cup,” reads the statement from the Australian FA. “We are very disappointed that Football Australia was not consulted on this matter before any decision was taken. Football Australia and New Zealand Football have jointly written to FIFA to urgently clarify the situation.”
The New Zealand FA added: “If these reports prove to be correct, we are shocked and disappointed to hear this, as New Zealand Football has not been consulted at all by FIFA on this matter.”
The sponsorship agreement has not yet been formally announced, but it will be part of a project whose main objective is to get brands to support the women’s game. That is, the money generated in the World Cup will be invested again in the modality. The values of this particular agreement are not known.
The 2023 World Cup starts on July 20th and ends exactly one month later, on August 20th. Portugal is still fighting for a place in the competition through the intercontinental play-off, played this month.
