Craig Foster lets rip at 'disgraceful' move ahead of Women's World Cup

Socceroos legend Craig Foster has condemned the decision by FIFA to allow sponsorship from Saudi Arabia at the upcoming Women's World Cup being held in Australia and New Zealand. The tournament, which has been expanded from 24 to 32 teams and gets underway in July, is being jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

The football federations of both countries have already spoken out in condemnation of FIFA's sponsorship deal with Saudi Arabia, amid concerns about restrictions on women’s rights in the kingdom. Football officials from Australia and New Zealand claim they were not consulted by FIFA about a lucrative deal with Visit Saudi.

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"We cannot express strongly enough the potential repercussions and fallout that could result of his decision," the Australian and New Zealand FAs wrote to FIFA. "Australia and New Zealand, both as sovereign nations and as football associations, have for decades placed the utmost importance on gender equality, and have sought to promote these ideals around the world."

Visit Saudi was major sponsor for the recent men's World Cup in Qatar, and Argentina star Lionel Messi is an ambassador for the company. Saudi Arabia - though its Public Investment Fund (PIV) - bankroll various sporting endeavours around the world and have been accused of using sport to help improve the sovereign state's shocking reputation around human rights.

The PIV also bankrolls the controversial LIV Golf initiative and has a large stake in oil company Aramco, which is a major sponsor in Formula One racing. Human rights group Amnesty International urged FIFA to speak out on the need for more human rights reforms in Saudi Arabia, rather than allowing its showpiece women's tournament to be used for "sportswashing" the country's image and for the exploitation of players.

Foster has been left furious by FIFA's deal with Saudi Arabia, calling it "disgraceful in the extreme". The Socceroos great told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that the world governing body's deal with the Gulf state to sponsor a major women's event - considering its shocking record on women's rights - is "particularly galling".

"Acceptance of Saudi sponsorship without acknowledgement of the accompanying human rights abuses is typical of FIFA and global sport right now and disgraceful in the extreme," Foster said. "It's particularly galling that a nation that is listed on the global gender equality index at 127 out of 153 countries, has a legal system that entrenches gender discrimination against women and that issued a 34-year prison sentence to Salma Al-Shehab simply for tweets and retweets on human rights and political issues in Saudi Arabia now sponsors a women's sport tournament in a country proud of its push for equality across all sport."

Saudi women were only allowed to start attending football matches in the country in 2017, when the ban against them was lifted. The first women's national league was only established in Saudi Arabia in 2020.

Foster is urging players to speak out against the Saudi regime in the lead-up to the Women's World Cup, much like the Socceroos players did against Qatar, before the men's World Cup last year. The Socceroos released a video message demanding Qatar decriminalise same-sex relations and also described recent workplace reforms in the Middle Eastern nation as inconsistent.

Saudi Araba's controversial place in world sport

As well as its questionable record on women's rights, one of the Saudi regime's most notable crimes is the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Khashoggi, a US resident who was kidnapped and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi, who had written critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had gone into the consulate to collect documents required for him to marry his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, and never came out.

Turkish officials said Khashoggi was killed and dismembered with a bone saw inside the consulate by a team of Saudi agents. The group included individuals who worked for the Crown Prince's office. His remains have not been found. Western intelligence agencies and the US Congress said an operation of such magnitude could not have happened without the knowledge of the crown prince.

The Saudi regime has been using 'sportswashing' to try and demonstrate to the world that it has cleaned up its record on human rights abuses. As well as funding LIV Golf, the regime's investment arm, PIV, has also purchased English Premier League side Newcastle United and helped fund the deal to bring global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to Saudi club, Al-Nassr.

Saudi Arabia is also considering a 2030 men's World Cup bid alongside Egypt and Greece. FIFA President Gianni Infantino appeared in a promotional video for the Saudi government in 2021, where he spruiked the important changes the kingdom had made. The FIFA president was also seen rubbing shoulders with the Saudi Crown Prince and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during last year's FIFA World Cup.

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