Women’s Soccer World Cup | Yellow card for Riyadh sponsorship project

FIFA, which had been harshly criticized following the awarding of the men’s soccer World Cup to Qatar, finds itself once again in the hot seat because of its links with a Middle Eastern petromonarchy.

The proposed addition of Saudi Arabia’s official tourism agency to the list of sponsors of the Women’s World Cup in soccer to be held next summer is causing considerable controversy even though the leaders of the sports organization do not have yet to announce an official decision on this.

The two host countries of the event, Australia and New Zealand, reacting to media leaks, said they were “shocked” a few weeks ago by the possibility of such an association and had asked for details from FIFA, which are slow in coming.

Many renowned athletes have since noted that it would be aberrant to associate the Women’s Soccer World Cup with an authoritarian regime that treats women in a discriminatory manner and does not hesitate to persecute activists demanding equality. The oppression of LGBTQ+ people is also mentioned as a reason to oppose it.

A repressive regime

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said FIFA’s planned association demonstrates a “shocking lack of consideration” for these abuses and speaks to the need for the sports organization to “finally” heed its defense commitments. human rights.

“The Women’s Soccer World Cup is a celebration and a celebration of the talent and diversity that exists in the world – it must not become an opportunity to whitewash the reputation of a government that violates human rights” , underlined Minky Worden, director of Global Initiatives at HRW.

“It would be extremely ironic for the Saudi tourism agency to sponsor the biggest celebration of women’s sport on the planet when a woman in the country cannot even get a job without being endorsed by a male guardian,” noted an official of the Australian section of Amnesty International, Nikita White, who described the projected association with FIFA as a “classic case of whitewashing through sport”.

The Saudi regime, she noted in a statement, has in recent years made much of the release of activists, including women who have claimed the right to drive, but continues to “put in jail after of unfair trials” anyone who criticizes his actions, particularly in matters of equality.

Amnesty International cites in particular the case of Salma al-Shehab, a doctoral student, who was sentenced in August 2022 to 34 years in prison after being kept in solitary confinement for more than nine months.

She was found guilty of using her Twitter account, which had 2,000 followers, to support women’s rights activists.

The Saudi regime has eliminated some restrictions on women since 2018, but in 2022 enshrined in law a “discriminatory” tutoring system which, according to Amnesty International, keeps women in a position of forced dependency vis-à-vis men on many subjects. .

Facade challenge

Chip Pitts, an independent corporate responsibility adviser, notes that the idea of ​​associating the Women’s Soccer World Cup with Saudi Arabia seems to have come straight from the brain of a screenwriter of the comedy show Saturday Night Live.

“It is an obvious attempt to whitewash through sport which is both hypocritical and shocking”, underlines the analyst.

Riyadh, he says, wants to diversify its economy and promote tourism, and seeks to do this to restore its image on the international scene by associating itself with major sporting events.

The regime has also spent hundreds of millions to create a new professional golf circuit, invested in an English Premier League soccer club and recruited star player Cristiano Ronaldo at great expense.

Despite its reformist pretensions, the regime remains a “brutal dictatorship”, says Mr. Pitts, who is alarmed that FIFA could consider such an association when it is required, in principle, to promote human rights. the person.

“There is a lot of bad faith at the head of the organization”, notes the specialist, who was flabbergasted during the Men’s Soccer World Cup to see FIFA President Gianni Infantino castigating people criticizing the results of Qatar on human rights.

Thomas Juneau, a Middle East specialist from the University of Ottawa, notes that the Saudi regime, under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is experiencing real social and economic transformations that cannot be dismissed as “mere facade “.

“It does not mean that the country is democratizing. It remains very repressive, particularly for women,” said Mr. Juneau, who sees Riyadh’s planned association with FIFA as a manifestation of the rivalry between the country and Qatar.

“They want to whiten their image internationally, but there is also a question of soft-power. They say to themselves: ‟If Qatar did it, we do it too”, notes the professor.