Sportswashing: How Saudi money is taking over global sport

Sportswashing: How Saudi money is taking over global sport Sport — 2026 Sportswashing: How Saudi money is taking over global sport Should students care where university sports sponsors get their cash?  ,   and  Max Bruce-Ball 13 October 2026 . 4:09 PM 5 min read Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp Share via Email Newcastle United's Transformation: Financial Powerhouse Under Saudi Ownership | headtopics.com By Max Bruce-Ball, Second Year, English and History Sportswashing is not a new phenomenon. The 1934 football World Cup and 1936 Berlin Olympics are the earliest examples of it, aiding in legitimising the regimes of fascist dictators Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler respectively.    Today, the Middle Eastern kingdom of Saudi Arabia springs to mind when you mention the subject. Its presence in the sporting world has not gone unnoticed but is becoming normalised. As a result, sport stands at a unique moment in its history, and its next steps are crucial.    But how does it all work, and why is it allowed to happen?   It is reported that Saudi Arabia has spent upwards of $10bn on sports sponsorship since 2020. The majority of these sponsorships are made through the Public Investment Fund, one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world, owned by de facto Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman.    The fruits of this investment are now exemplified by ‘Riyadh Season.’ Beginning in late October, the event features an array of sports including tennis (the ‘Six Kings Slam’), golf ('LIV Golf') football (the ‘Supercoppa Italiana,’) and boxing, hosting the much awaited Usyk vs Fury II in 2024. Saudi Arabia is becoming a global hub of sport, to the delight of its rulers.   LIV Golf | Pexels / Narshima Rao Mangu But the sponsorships are only half of the story. In 2022, the Saudi Arabia tourism board secured a deal making Lionel Messi an official tourism ambassador for Saudi Arabia, worth $25 million over three years. It also included a clause whereby the Argentine was not able to say anything which may ‘tarnish’ the kingdom during the duration of the contract.    This ‘tarnish’ clause highlights Saudi's awareness of their human rights flaws and offences, of which there are many. The number of imprisoned Saudi journalists has tripled since 2017, a male guardianship system is heavily restricting on women’s rights and exploitative labour practices for migrant workers are normalised - to name a few. By placing this clause in Messi’s contract, the Saudi tourism board can control the narrative of their close ties with modern football’s brightest star.    This is sportswashing at its height, and it is successful.    And this success hit a peak when Saudi Arabia was awarded the hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup. It is not just the award itself, but how it played out. Due to FIFA’s regulations over World Cup hosting rights, Australia was the only country eligible to challenge the Saudi kingdom’s bid. However, Football Australia was only given a month to put said bid together, and no doubt decided that doing so would be futile against the Saudis’ financial might.   This fast-tracked process lacked any kind of transparency, making the bid score of 4.2 out of 5 - the highest ever for a World Cup - even more absurd. But what was worse was the reaction of the football world, or lack of it.    In 2010, when Russia and Qatar were awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, there was global uproar; the reaction to Saudi Arabia 2034 was generally grumbled acceptance. Norway’s was the only FA to abstain from acclamation of the bid, which received almost universal applause at the virtual FIFA Conference of December 2024. With that decision, Saudi Arabia’s place in modern football seemed more than secure, it appeared to be unassailable.   Saudi Arabian Instagram 'Welcom(ing) the World' | Instagram / @saudi2034 Of course any Saudi leader involved in the kingdom’s mammoth foray into sport would refute notions of sportswashing. In 2023, Foreign Minister Prince Turki Al Faisal stated that claims of sportswashing were shallow. “We want to attract the world through sports,” he added. Although he perhaps mistook the word ‘attract’ for ‘distract,’ which is perhaps at the core of the Saudi strategy.    It could be argued, though, that by ‘attracting the world through sports’ more attention has been drawn towards Saudi human rights offences. Before and during the 2022 Qatar World Cup publicity surrounding the country’s mistreatment of its citizens reached an all-time high, as emblematised by Joe Lycett’s memorable shredding of £10,000 in protest at David Beckham’s role as ambassador for the tournament.   While the overall impact of this was probably minimal in relation to improving the quality of living for Qatari citizens it brought the issues of human rights abuses in Qatar into the national psyche in a way never previously done: sportswashing comes with it the risk of actually ‘dirtying’ a nation’s name.   But how does any of this relate to student sport in Bristol?   We can take the same logic, of scrutinising sponsorships but appreciating the conversations which they encourage, and apply it to sponsorships of university sports clubs. For example, in April of this year, the University of Bristol Snowsports Society announced a partnership with Snus Vikings. Whilst this may feel inappropriate within a modern context where the promotion of smoking is illegal, it teaches us a lot about the student population, and its habits.   Snus Vikings Sponsorship | Instagram / @ubsc Let’s be clear: I am in no way equating the sponsorship of a university sports club with the billions of Saudi dollars pumped into sport in the last five years, but providing a more localised example and highlighting the questions sports sponsorship can and should provoke.   Universities should be places where students question power - having a say and demanding transparency on how our sports teams are funded is entirely appropriate. Part of joining a university sports society is realising that sport is not just entertainment but bound up in business, politics and power.  Should Manchester City be relegated? Epigram’s Finn Wastnage dives into the Manchester City football club scandal as fans await their future. EpigramFinn Wastnage  Our blindness to what enables sport is facilitated by its beauty. This beauty is exactly how sportswashing is able to happen - wider contexts can be disregarded so long as sport is able to continue. Danger lies in our passivity, no matter what scale it is on. Whilst it is probably not the most fun way to look at sport, as we grow older it is increasingly important to scrutinise the mechanisms by which it runs.    So, whether it is the influence of an oil-rich kingdom or a partnership with a Snus retailer, it is paramount that we question and probe, rather than sit and accept.   What do you think about sportswashing?  Related Sport ACS Sports: More than a game ,   and  Edward Wallace 11 October 2026 Sport Should Manchester City be relegated? ,   and  Finn Wastnage 11 October 2026 Sport Virtual fandom and the loss of Shared Space ,   and  Edward Wallace 18 September 2026 Sport Why there are no superstars in the Premier League ,   and  Max Bruce-Ball 17 September 2026 Latest From campus to protest: Inside France's student strikes ,   and  Sadie Lessman ,   and  Ruby Wright 15 October 2026 News PM gives ‘strongest backing yet’ for mass transit in Bristol ,   and  Daniel Cale-Caplan 14 October 2026 2026/2027 Application 39: Possibility for Change ,   and  Rosie Napthine 14 October 2026 Film & TV Ink: Danny Boyle makes it loud ,   and  Charles Hubbard 14 October 2026