FIFA contacted by broadcasters over possible Saudi links to World Cup

Optus Sport and New Zealand broadcaster Sky contact FIFA to express outrage over possible Saudi sponsorship of the Women’s World Cup… but Football Australia are accused of ‘memory loss or hypocrisy’ after BACKING nation to host Asian Cup

• Optus Sport and Sky have contacted FIFA over Saudi links to the World Cup 
• Visit Saudi could sponsor the women’s tournament later this year 
• However, Football Australia have been accused of hypocrisy amid their stance 

Outraged broadcasters have written to FIFA to express their concern over Visit Saudi’s potential, controversial sponsorship of the women’s World Cup.

Sportsmail can reveal that both Aussie-based Optus and New Zealand’s Sky made their feelings clear to the governing body when news broke that a deal with Visit Saudi was being considered for the tournament, which is being held in the two countries this summer.

The issue has sparked a global debate, with many – including some of the game’s top players – pointing out that Saudi’s human rights record and ban on same sex relationships make such a link-up unpalatable.

Earlier this week, in a letter seen by this newspaper, FIFA responded to both broadcasters. In what some have taken as a heavy hint that the deal will not be done, Romi Gai, chief business officer, says: ‘We can only point out that the media coverage and commentary (on Saudi) is based purely on speculation, and not on any information or statements from FIFA.’

Gai adds that FIFA is ‘strongly committed to gender equality and human rights’. And in what could be viewed as a thinly-veiled dig, he states that ‘a policy of engagement, rather than isolation, tends to yield more positive results’, adding ‘the governments of Australia and New Zealand engage with their counterparts in exactly the same way, and across a wide variety of business and economic sectors’.

Broadcasters for the women’s World Cup have contacted FIFA over a possible Saudi deal

Visit Saudi has been linked with sponsorship rights of this year’s major tournament 

FIFA has not publicly announced the deal but has also not gone on the record to state it is dead in the water. That perceived lack of clarity has left officials at all levels of Football Australia frustrated, given it is now some weeks since the initial story broke.

Team USA stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe had branded the prospect of Saudi sponsorship ‘bizarre’ and ‘totally inappropriate’. Morgan urged FIFA to ‘do the right thing’ while Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema told FIFA it should be ‘deeply ashamed for even considering it’.

Football Australia said it would ‘not be comfortable’ with such a scenario saying it would ‘not align with our collective vision for the tournament and falls short of our expectations’.

However, that stance raised eyebrows in some quarters given events than unfolded last month at the 33rd Asian Football Confederation Conference in Bahrain. The summit saw members from across the AFC, which Australia joined in 2007, asked to rubber stamp Saudi’s bid to host the 2027 Asian Cup – the continent’s version of the European Championship.

It is not yet clear whether FIFA will agree a deal with Visit Saudi to sponsor the competition  

In a public poll, those present were asked to vote either yes or no and given the option to abstain. The question presented was: ‘Do you approve the designation of Saudi Arabian Football Federation as the host Member Association of the AFC Asian Cup 2027?’ Australia voted yes. Their view is understood to be that while they are happy to promote the game globally, they do not feel comfortable with promoting a nation that does not align with the vision they have for the tournament.

Regardless, some have been left less than impressed. ‘It seems odd that only a month ago Australia was quite happy to vote for the Asian Cup to be held in Saudi,’ said one well-placed source who did not wish to be named. ‘Then – here we are a few weeks later and they are kicking up all sorts of a fuss over a sponsorship deal with the same country that hasn’t even been agreed yet. They’ve either got short-term memory loss or are simply hypocrites.’

Football Australia and FIFA declined to comment.

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