Global Sports Bodies Face Renewed Criticism Over Aramco Ties Amid UN Human Rights Warning 

The letter said that platforming fossil fuel companies through sponsorship agreements, sports bodies risk threatening the sustainability of their own sports

Six of the world’s biggest sports organisations, including FIFA, the International Cricket Council, and Formula1, have been asked to justify their sponsorship deals with State-owned Aramco as it risks breaching international human right standards. 

A coalition of 10 human rights and climate organisation, including Human Rights Watch and Saudi organisation such as Al Qst and European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), sent a letter this month expressing their concerns that Aramco’s sponsorships risk undermining human rights law, global climate goals and the sports’ own sustainability commitments. 

The letter requested that sports bodies respond to whether they have taken, or plan to take, any action with Aramco in relation to the 2023 UN communication that raised concerns about the company undermining the Paris climate agreement. It also asked if they have a process to review and potentially end their sponsorship agreement with Aramco if it is causing negative human rights or climate impacts.

Aramco, which is among the largest oil and gas companies in the world, has faced repeated criticism over the delay of climate action and the plans to expand oil production. In the face of strong support for climate action worldwide, it has invested heavily in reputation management which includes spending nearly $200 million on buying advertising space through its marketing partner IPG between 2021 and 2023. 

The Saudi Arabia-based company has increased its global sponsorship portfolio to over $1.3 billion across over 900 deals. It will be the major sponsor for the Singapore Grand Prix and Women’s Cricket World Cup. It will also be the worldwide partner for the 2026 and 2027 FIFA World Cups, as well as sponsor for the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. 

Fossil Fuels Risks the Sustainability of Sports

The letter said that by directly platforming fossil fuel companies through sponsorship agreements, sports bodies risk undermining the Paris Agreement and enabling human rights harms caused by climate breakdown, threatening the sustainability of their own sports, including football and cricket which are already under pressure from rising global temperatures, and lending legitimacy to Aramco’s greenwashing, climate obstructionism and human rights record.

James Lynch of FairSquare, a human rights organisation with a focus on accountability in sport, said, “While world-leading UN human rights experts have been raising the alarm about the impact of Aramco’s activities on the planet and humans, sports organisations like FIFA, Formula 1 and the ICC are happily taking the company’s money, disregarding not only their much vaunted social responsibility statements but also the future of the sports themselves.”

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