Fifa announced that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 men’s football World Cup. The country has also increased its involvement in other sports like Formula One, tennis, boxing, and golf. As a result, they have been receiving lots of criticism from many groups like environmental and human rights organizations

The sudden interest in sports has led people to think that Saudi Arabia is ‘sportswashing,’ the act of using sport to improve the country’s public profile.

Saudi Arabia is a highly religious country, which affects the condition and the rights of the people who live there. In Saudi Arabia, women have few rights, and it was only in 2018 that were women allowed to apply for a driver’s license and drive. In 2015, women in Saudi Arabia were finally allowed to vote. However, they are still not allowed to vote in major elections. This has been repeatedly pointed out by many people and is also what caused many human rights organizations to feel conflicted about Saudi Arabia hosting the World Cup.

Not only that, but Saudi Arabia also ranked number one for the most carbon emissions in 2023. When hosting the World Cup, it takes a lot of resources to hold the World Cup like the construction of stadiums, and the amount of carbon emissions produced from this effort will increase in Saudi Arabia.

The minimal rights of women and carbon emissions in Saudi Arabia are just two of the many things that people have been pointing out to support the argument that Saudi Arabia is sportwashing. Saudi Arabia has denied sports washing claims and has said that they are only investing in sports to improve their economy since their economy is mainly reliant on selling oil.

However, regardless of what happens, there’s no doubt that Saudi Arabia will continue putting money and effort into sports, especially the 2034 men’s football World Cup.