FIFA urged to stay away from sponsorship deal seen as backward step
Former New Zealand international Maia Jackman says Saudi sponsorship of the Women’s World Cup would be in “complete opposition” to female empowerment and set back her work as an ambassador for the tournament.
Australia and New Zealand, cohosts of this year’s World Cup, have written to FIFA seeking urgent clarification after the Guardian reported Visit Saudi will be named as a major sponsor of the tournament.
Jackman, one of FIFA’s “Beyond Greatness Champions’’, a team of women promoting the World Cup, said accepting Saudi sponsorship would be a “disempowering message’’ for women.
“FIFA have so much power to change the world for females and this kind of comes out,” she told Stuff.
“If (the Saudi sponsorship) goes to fruition, it would affect how people see the sport. It’s hard when we’re trying so hard to push things forward.”
FIFA and Visit Saudi have declined to comment on sponsorship of the World Cup but the prospect of a commercial tie-up has triggered outrage in the host countries.
Kate Gill, co-chair of players union Professional Footballers Australia, complained that players were not consulted on FIFA’s commercial decisions and the governing body was not meeting human rights commitments.
“Unfortunately, FIFA has consistently shown that they lack the willingness to meet their own stated commitments and this has eroded football’s ability to be a genuine force for good,” the former Australia striker said in comments published by Sydney Morning Herald.
On Thursday, New Zealand’s sports minister Grant Robertson said FIFA should consider his country’s progress on empowering women and girls.
“I would like to think that FIFA would understand that as well, and when they are thinking about their commercial arrangements that they would factor that in,” he added.
Robertson said sponsorship was ultimately a decision for FIFA.
The Women’s World Cup runs from July 20 to August 20.
Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has introduced reforms allowing women greater control over their lives in recent years but men still retain a tight grip on power in the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia, named host nation of the 2027 Asian Cup on Wednesday, also has ambitions of hosting the World Cup in 2030 as well as the Women’s Asian Cup in 2026.
Ibrahim Al Kassim, the secretary general of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, said on Wednesday that although his body was not involved in sponsorship deals, such moves were a part of his country’s new engagement with the world.
“Saudi Arabia is opening to the world. Saudi Arabia is reaching out to the world, just to show the world what Saudi Arabia is capable of,” he told Reuters at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) congress in Bahrain.
“As you might have seen, Saudi Arabia has been hosting so many competitions, and so many sports.”
Baseball: Kiwi pitcher Kyle Glogoski is heading for his first season as a member of the Cincinnati Reds organisation after progressing well through the minor leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Reds expect to use Glogoski as a relief pitcher rather than a starter, with the team seeing him as an answer to some holes in their bullpen at Double-A.
"It would affect how people see the sport. It’s hard when we’re trying so hard to push things forward."
Rugby: New Zealand Rugby will dispense with its historic timeline of waiting until after the World Cup to determine the next All Blacks coach, and will instead, within the next eight-to-10 weeks, appoint someone to the role. Chief executive Mark Robinson has presented a recommendation that the process to find the next All Blacks coach begin next month, and the unprecedented plan will be signed off on February 23.
Golf: A host of Kiwi and international sporting legends will tee up at the New Zealand Open in March. Black Cap greats Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum, former All Blacks Sean Fitzpatrick, Jeff Wilson and Israel Dagg, and former Black Stick Ella Gunson, will play in the NZ Open Pro-Am event in Queenstown.
Squash: West Coast squash ace Paul Coll has won his opening round at the PSA’s Motor City Open in Detroit. The tournament top seed won in straight games, but it was a hard-fought victory over Qatar’s Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi in just over an hour. Meanwhile, countrywoman Joelle King won her first match at the Cleveland Classic, to reach the quarter-finals.