The players fighting against FIFA’s Saudi Arabian oil deal: ‘No money is worth it’

The message pinged in a climate and sport WhatsApp group.

“Have you seen this?” it said. Accompanying it was a link to a story about the announcement in April of a four-year sponsorship deal — its value undisclosed — between FIFA and Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco. Among the tournaments included in the deal are the 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s World Cups.

Netherlands international Tessel Middag, who was one of several professional footballers in the WhatsApp group, describes it as a “step back”, coming just 12 months after FIFA tried to partner with Visit Saudi ahead of the 2023 World Cup, a partnership it dropped following a backlash led by women’s players.

New Zealand international Katie Rood’s initial reaction was frustration and devastation. “To see such a quick turnaround with a potentially even bigger negative impact on the global scene was devastating,” Rood says via video call from New Zealand.

The announcement prompted Rood, Middag and Denmark international Sofie Junge Pedersen to spearhead a movement that resulted in an open letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Published in October, it was titled: Aramco sponsorship is a middle finger to women’s football.

The letter describes Saudi Aramco as a “nightmare sponsor” owned by a state which has a “brutal human rights reputation”, “criminalises LGBTQ+ individuals”, “oppresses women” and “bears glaring responsibility for the climate crisis”.

It cites examples of Saudi Arabia sentencing PhD student Salma al-Shehab to 27 years in prison and handing her a 27-year travel ban for retweeting in favour of free speech, as well as fitness instructor Manahel al-Otaibi who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for promoting female empowerment on social media.

The letter also states that Saudi Aramco, which declined to comment when approached by The Athletic, is “one of the corporations which is most responsible for burning football’s future”. United Nations experts said that Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil and gas producer, ranks as “the largest greenhouse gas emitter” among 25 fossil fuel businesses responsible for over half of global emissions.

“FIFA might as well pour oil on the pitch and set it alight,” the letter reads.

It has been signed by 133 female footballers at the time of writing, including Manchester City striker Vivianne Miedema, Canada captain Jessie Fleming, former U.S. Women’s National Team captain Becky Sauerbrunn, Bayern Munich’s Magdalena Eriksson and Pernille Harder, and Barcelona’s Fridolina Rolfo and Marta Torrejon.

The aim, in Rood’s words, is to “make it almost impossible for FIFA to ignore us”.

Gathering footballers from every corner of the world and developing a campaign to take on FIFA while juggling a playing career — and in Middag’s case, writing a masters thesis and starting a coaching course — is no mean feat.

“It’s frustrating that, as players, you have to keep speaking out against sponsors who do not align with what football should stand for, whether that’s real climate action, human, women’s or LGBTQ+ rights,” Middag, a midfielder for Scottish side Rangers, says.

“It’s really important to protect those values moving forward. So many female footballers who signed feel a responsibility to make sure the sport stays in good hands for the younger generations rather than the big money just taking over now women’s football is taking off. It will only accelerate in the next 10 years. Of course big companies like Aramco are going to be interested.”

Rood does not believe the women’s game has got to where it is thanks to such investment. “It’s predominantly through women just going out there and not backing down when people say they can’t or they shouldn’t,” the 32-year-old says.

Another part of her motivation to speak is because she can. “We have the freedom,” Rood, who initially came on board because of environmental reasons, says. “Women in Saudi have been arrested for just talking about women’s empowerment on social media. When you dig deeper into human rights and recognise how much freedom we have in the countries we live in, it forms part of our responsibility.”

Before writing the letter, the trio took part in workshops on Zoom with Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International which were offered to players by the charities. They also consulted InfluenceMap, who provided data on Saudi Aramco’s oil and gas production and information regarding accusations that Saudi Arabia tried to block a deal to end the use of fossil fuels last year.

Once the players had edited the letter and recorded snapshot video messages explaining why players should look into the matter, they slowly started to contact players in their friendship groups and asked them to share it with team-mates and their network.

In the message there was the google document containing the letter, plus a one-page factsheet with links to human rights organisations and the workshop videos. Players could then sign a document with their name, club and number of national team caps.

“At first it was crickets by a lot of people,” says Rood. “It takes a while to process something like that, it’s not just something you click, watch and understand the full picture.”

The response was varied. Some were on board straightaway, others were supportive of the motion but did not feel comfortable signing the letter, while a few did not have the time or want to engage.

For Fleming, known for her climate activism and having worked with Pedersen during the 2023 World Cup on their carbon responsibility initiative, signing was a “no-brainer” once she had done some further research. Describing FIFA’s partnership with Saudi Aramco as an “ongoing disappointment”, the Portland Thorns player was unsurprised but frustrated when she heard the news of their sponsorship agreement in April.

Jessie Fleming playing for her country at the Olympics this summer (Arnaud Finistre/AFP/Getty Images)

“It doesn’t reflect my values nor the values I would like to see FIFA uphold,” Fleming says via video call from Portland. “For FIFA to be supporting a country that clearly practises human rights violations is quite disturbing. Football has the power to share these values and push for these same freedoms globally.

“With this deal they’re not doing that. No money is worth the (country’s) human rights violations and harm to the planet that Saudi Aramco practices.

“FIFA says they hold certain values and a lot of their actions certainly aren’t reflecting that.”

Fleming, 26, forwarded the message to the Portland Thorns player group chat and it made her day when Sauerbrunn was interested. “In women’s football, you’re one or two degrees of separation from almost every other player,” says the former Chelsea midfielder. “It’s pretty neat to be able to nudge Becky Sauerbrunn or Niamh Charles to sign a letter. That’s very special.”

After a week or two the signatures came rolling in.

“We were pretty stoked about everyone who did sign,” says Rood. Fleming and Sauerbrunn were big names and with Miedema on board too, Rood thought, “Whoa, this is going places”.

“We know she is really powerful in using her voice and she’s not shy to talk about those things,” says Rood.

But Middag also acknowledges that with a big platform comes criticism too. Some commented on Miedema’s hypocrisy given she plays for Manchester City, a club owned by the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, a country which Amnesty International says “restricts the rights to freedom of expression”, “failed to meet its commitments on policies to combat climate change” and where homosexuality is punishable by death.

“I find it even more impressive she speaks out under those circumstances,” says Rood. “So often we won’t use our voices because of fear of backlash. No matter who we are in this world, we’re all hypocrites. If we’re fighting for change, it’s really hard to live in the systems we live in without having an impact on the world.”

In 2016 Middag moved from Ajax to City, her first opportunity to play abroad and sign for, in her words, “one of the biggest clubs in the world”. “I wish we had as much power,” the 31-year-old says. “We don’t have influence over who the wider club is sponsored by. You always have to make decisions that people now may find hypocritical but we try to use our voices to bring about positive change.”

“As footballers, we’re shipped wherever we need to go, where the opportunity comes up and we have to make ends meet as well,” says Rood. “But that doesn’t mean we necessarily align perfectly with our employers. I’m sure there are a lot of people in the world who feel that way. It’s really impressive she hasn’t let that disempower her and still speaks her truth.”

Others have pointed fingers at the hypocrisy of footballers who are climate activists but fly all over the world for their jobs. Fleming reckons with the tension on a consistent basis.

“You could argue a lot of us are hypocrites in a lot of ways,” she says. “This is something I have control over and my way of choosing to take action. There will be certain changes I’ll make in my lifestyle when I’m done playing football but the reality is we do travel a lot.” Fleming believes, however, that FIFA and federations can limit travel miles when they decide on tournament locations and travel schedules.

Now the players want to hold productive discussions with FIFA and introduce player representation to review sponsors. But they have had no communication with FIFA since the letter was published.

In a statement, a FIFA spokesperson said: “FIFA values its partnership with Aramco and its many other commercial and rights partners. FIFA is an inclusive organisation with many commercial partners also supporting other organisations in football and other sports.”

The governing body emphasised that revenue generated through partnerships such as the Aramco deal is reinvested into the development of the women’s game. World football’s governing body describes commercial revenue as the “primary driver” of revenue growth in the women’s game.

However, Rood, who has played across different tiers in England, Italy, New Zealand and now for Hearts in Scotland, believes the investment is “minimal” and has not “trickled down very far”, pointing to Championship teams in England or top-tier teams in Scotland struggling to support players financially.

“It rings hollow when you look at the realities of the game,” she says, and questions the game’s sustainability. “We know a lot about FIFA and that money isn’t necessarily going to go where the women’s game needs.” When contacted, FIFA pointed to its new distribution model, increased support for teams at the 2023 World Cup and their updated strategy for 2023 to 2027 which, according to them, highlights how revenue is reinvested back into the game.

The overturning of last year’s Visit Saudi deal has given the players hope they can bring about change.

“Athletes have a big role to play in making the world a better place,” says Rood. “A lot of people are frustrated and tuned out to the government and politicians. People look to athletes for inspiration, female athletes in particular.

“Because we’ve had to overcome adversity, we’re more connected to a community to survive and because of those circumstances, we have a real desire to try our best to ensure a brighter tomorrow.”

(Top photo: Gianni Infantino with Mohammed bin Salman at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar; Christopher Pike/Bloomberg via Getty Images)