Sportswashing or sports strategy? Why a 2035 Women’s World Cup in Saudi Arabia is dividing the world of football

On 12 March 2022, Saudi Arabia carried out its largest mass execution in the country’s modern history.

81 men were executed after being accused of various offences, including terrorism and weapons smuggling.

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In the wake of the executions, the brother of one of the executed men, Mustafa al-Khayyat fled to Germany in fear of his life.

He has since told the BBC that his brother’s killing, and the killing of many of the other men, was based on a ‘lie’.

A recent report by Reprieve and the European Saudi organization for Human Rights concluded that a lack of transparency in the judicial system made public scrutiny of decisions impossible.

Legal decisions are taken behind closed doors, it is forbidden to publish court documents and court hearings are often postponed indefinitely.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has faced criticism over its human rights violations given its use of the death penalty, its criminalisation of homosexuality and the lack of freedom afforded to women.

The Gulf State have now announced they want to host the Women’s World Cup in 2035.

Of the 146 countries ranked in the 2023 Global Gender Gap Index – a measure of a country’s gender equality – Saudi Arabia was ranked 131st.

But the country insists that conditions, particularly when it comes to women’s rights, are changing.

In 2017, the ban on women driving in the country was lifted.

In 2019, women over 21 were granted the right to travel without being under male guardianship.

And in the same year, Saudi Arabia banned marriage for those under the age of 18 – a decision that was only made in England and Wales in February 2023.

Any bid to host the Women’s World Cup would follow the bid they have already made to host the men’s tournament in 2034.

It has already led to countless accusations of ‘sportswashing’ – the practice of using sport to improve a reputation characterised by wrongdoing.

But talkSPORT’s Middle Eastern correspondent Ben Jacobs says there is evidence their bid for the women’s tournament is part of a concerted effort to develop women’s football and ‘to promote the game at all levels’.

He said: “As far as their vision is concerned, it’s a high priority to show their investment in women’s sport and in the context of sport, to champion gender equality. The 2035 Women’s World Cup could well be a big part of that.”

Saudi Arabia launched their domestic women’s football league in late 2020 – two years after women were granted permission to attend stadium matches.

And 2023 saw the most high-profile move to the Saudi Women’s Premier League as former England international Ashleigh Plumptre signed for Al-Ittihad.

But hosting football’s biggest tournaments in Saudi Arabia will be controversial no matter what, as recent events have shown.

FIFA sparked outrage when they proposed tourism company Visit Saudi as this year’s Women’s World Cup sponsors before the idea was scrapped.

And England’s Jordan Henderson was booed off the pitch at Wembley after fans felt betrayed by his recent move to Al-Ettifaq, given the midfielder’s vocal support for LGBTQ+ rights.

At the 2023 Women’s World Cup, NBC reported that at least 87 out LGBTQ+ players were competing – a figure that was more than double that of the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

Whether those players would feel comfortable being in a country where homosexuality is illegal remains a huge question.

When asked about Saudi Arabia as a potential venue for the tournament, Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said the country’s LGBTQ+ stance was a concern.

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Hayes hopes important discussions will take place before a decision is made[/caption]

She said: “To host a World Cup in Saudi, for sure there has to be some really high level conversations in and around ‘How do you see that working knowing your laws and your thoughts on homophobia?’ “

“I would hope that the authorities are thinking of that and they’re representing everyone across the women’s game to make sure it’s safe for everybody to go and play but also that nobody’s going to be arrested for (being LGBTQ) or nobody’s going to be dealt with in a different way.”

Some time between March and April of this year, Visit Saudi, the Saudi Arabia Tourism Authority, made a surprising update to their FAQs page.

A new FAQ was introduced under the title: “Are LGBT visitors welcome to visit Saudi?”

The answer reads: “Everyone is welcome to visit Saudi, and we ask that they follow and respect our culture, traditions and laws, as you would when visiting any other country in the world.”

Those laws they refer to state that homosexuality in Saudi Arabia is illegal and, in some cases, punishable by the death penalty.

But the harsh laws are not always enforced: the US State Department’s 2022 report on human rights concluded that there had been no prosecutions for homosexuality last year.

What seems like a small change to Visit Saudi’s website FAQs could, if paired with the publicity that consecutive Men’s and Women’s World Cups would bring, be the start of legislative changes.

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England World Cup bronze medallist and talkSPORT pundit Lianne Sanderson told talKSPORT’s Women’s Football Show she believed the chances of Saudi Arabia being awarded the 2035 tournament were high.

She said: “If people don’t want it to be there, they should probably start speaking up now instead of waiting until six months before, and then speaking about it.

“I have a feeling that it’s going to be hard to stop. I don’t think it should be in these kinds of countries, I really don’t.”

And she admitted that while attending a potential tournament there would be a difficult decision, it would be something she would view as an opportunity for change.

She said: “I’m not going to say I won’t be going to Saudi because if I get offered opportunities I will be going – pending that it’s safe there, pending that I can be on the ground and see what change I can make.

“Because I realise by going to Qatar, I made some change – I did football camps at the Khalifa stadium for all women, all females and nobody really wants to talk about those things. It’s always about the negative stuff.”

For FIFA, the decision to award the tournament will be taken based on their assessment of the potential for Saudi Arabia to ‘adapt’ and become ‘as inclusive as possible’, says Jacobs.

He said: “This will be more about FIFA awarding the tournament first, with the belief that Saudi Arabia will adapt and be as inclusive as possible.

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The Qatar World Cup was also criticised due to the country’s human rights record[/caption]

“If you award first and change afterwards, rather than change first in order to then get the award of a sports event, then some will say that it’s part of ‘sportswashing’ or that they’ve been given a tournament that they’re not deserving of because the change hasn’t happened first.”

He added: “It’s really easy from the outside-in for people to criticise and it’s really easy from the inside-out for Saudis to just say there’s a bunch of change.”

But Jacobs believes there is one group whose voices must be heard if this tournament is to culminate in any meaningful development: the women of Saudi Arabia.

Jacobs finished: “If women in Saudi Arabia…feel comfortable that they can have a voice…and that’s factored into the decision-making process that then provokes change, then we should get something more authentic and long lasting that everybody can be comfortable and proud of.”

If – and only if – these women are heard, then a tournament which could have been guilty of ‘sportswashing’ might just turn into their greatest opportunity to change their lives for the better.