Saudi oil giant spends more than $1 billion on ‘sportswashing’ deals

Saudi state oil company Aramco spends nearly $1.3 billion sponsoring global sporting events, a report by the New Weather Institute has found.

According to the UK-based think tank, Aramco is the largest investor in sports sponsorship, with an estimated investment of $757.6 million in football, $495.7 million in motorsport, $56 million in cricket and $35.9 million in golf.

Aramco is currently the world’s most profitable company, with revenues of $231 billion in 2023.

The oil giant is one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, estimated to be responsible for more than 5 percent of global emissions from 2016 to 2022.

Saudi Arabia has been accused of “sportswashing” — a term used to describe when sporting events are used to enhance a country’s reputation. In this case, Saudi Aramco is accused of using sports to distract the world from its high use of fossil fuels.

Aramco’s investment does not include amounts that the Saudi Arabian State Investment Fund spends separately on sports.

“If Saudi Aramco were a country, it would have the fifth largest emissions (after China, the US, India and Russia),” the report said.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states including the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain have invested in bringing major sports stars to the region, including Cristiano Ronaldo, who is an ambassador for both Saudi football and the country itself and has joined the Riyadh-based Al Nassr football club.

Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 FIFA World Cup. Aramco was unveiled as FIFA’s “Major Worldwide Partner” in a deal reportedly worth $100 million a year and announced a sponsorship deal with Concacaf, the governing body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Aramco’s chairman, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, is also chairman of Golf Saudi, president of the Saudi Gold Federation and chairman of English football club Newcastle United.

The energy giant also signed a long-term sponsorship deal with Formula 1 and a partnership with Aston Martin Racing, which will see the team use fossil fuels in its engines from now on.

The report also highlights Saudi Arabia’s track record of undermining global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, by lobbying to remove anti-fossil fuel language and acknowledge climate change in key agreements and declarations.

The Gulf state has also bid to host the 2036 Summer Olympics.