Fifa ‘ambiguous’ on Saudi backing of World Cup, says NZ Football
New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell is hoping Fifa will soon enter into ‘‘serious dialogue’’ about the Fifa Women’s World Cup sponsorship deal it has reportedly struck with the Saudi Arabian tourism board, after receiving a ‘‘disappointing’’ response to a letter raising concerns.
NZ Football board chair Johanna Wood and her Football Australia counterpart Chris Nikou in writing to Fifa expressing disappointment and seeking clarity when reports that Visit Saudi would be a sponsor of this year’s World Cup first emerged at the start of last month.
Saudi Arabia has a long history of restricting women’s rights and the suggestion it might align itself with the world’s largest women’s sporting event, this year being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, has therefore attracted widespread criticism.
Fifa has made no public comment on the reports, but Pragnell said on Friday that NZ Football and Football Australia had received a response to Wood and Nikou’s letter ‘‘about a week ago,’’ almost a month after it was originally sent.
‘‘I found the response fairly
ambiguous,’’ Pragnell said. ‘‘It didn’t confirm nor deny the potential Visit Saudi sponsorship that has been reported in the media.
‘‘It did allude to the importance of treating all member associations equally and the importance of engagement as opposed to isolation.
‘‘Other than that, it stated that they’d be reaching out through their media and partnerships team for further conversations.’’
The uncertainty this created for the trans-Tasman football organisations was disappointing.
‘‘Anything further I say would be speculation, because I don’t know, but clearly our letter, given the delay in the response, and the absence of confirmation or denial, has caused some form of rethink in Fifa about this issue.
‘‘Whether that results in change on what we’ve heard reported or not, I don’t know.
‘‘So while the delay is frustrating, I’d like to think that’s because they’re having some serious internal conversations about what is going on here.’’
Pragnell said he was taking the wait for a response ‘‘as both positive and negative’’.
‘‘The negative being that we’re not actually getting information, the positive being that there’s some sort of rethink going on here.’’
He was hoping ‘‘further conversations’’ would begin soon, noting that ‘‘the situation can’t stay in limbo in perpetuity’’.
‘‘New Zealand Football has made its position really clear – that we are uncomfortable with this situation as it’s been reported, that we need to know more information, and that we want to sit down and have some serious dialogue about this.’’
He hoped for more information very soon.
His words echo those of Football Australia chief executive James Johnson, who recently told The Athletic he would like dialogue with Fifa to begin ‘‘as soon as possible’’.