FIFA and Aramco Factsheet: the World’s Biggest Polluter on the World’s Biggest Stage

Aramco is the world’s largest oil producer, worth around $1.6 trillion. It is 98.5% owned by the Saudi Arabian state. In 2024, FIFA made Aramco its “major worldwide partner” in a sponsorship deal reportedly worth $100 million per year. The agreement covers the 2026 Men’s and 2027 Women’s World Cups and other tournaments during that period. 

This sponsorship is an attempt to protect Aramco’s business at a time when it faces obvious threats: the world must urgently shift away from fossil fuels, 89% of people want more climate action and the boom in electric vehicles and renewable energy is jeopardising oil profits. Advertising to billions of football fans worldwide helps Aramco expand demand and protect its reputation, despite the concerns of significant groups of both female and male players who spoke out against the deal.

So why should FIFA cancel its Aramco sponsorship deal? 

1. Aramco is the world’s largest polluter and remains deeply committed to expanding fossil fuel production 

Aramco is the planet’s biggest oil firm, the number one polluter and the most profitable company worldwide. It was responsible for over 4% of all emissions from 1965 – 2017 (more than the UK as a whole) and continues to invest tens of billions in new oil and gas exploration despite the “devastating consequences” of failing to “change course” away from fossil fuels. Just 0.01% of the energy Aramco produces is renewable and its CEO, Amin Nasser, has acted as a figurehead for the oil industry’s expansion plans. He told an industry conference in 2024 that “we should abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas, and instead invest in them adequately” and that the “current transition strategy is visibly failing on most fronts”. This claim is contradicted by the facts on the expansion of solar and wind power and battery storage.

2. The Aramco sponsorship is part of Saudi Arabia’s strategy to block international climate action and protect its fossil fuel profits 

Given Aramco is state-owned, it is directly involved in Saudi Arabia’s decades-long effort to block international climate action and protect its vast oil revenues. Indeed, the country has been described as “the point of the spear in terms of organising the resistance” to moving away from fossil fuels. In the 1990s, it ensured climate conferences (COPs) would be based on absolute consensus rather than a majority vote, and it has vetoed and undermined agreements ever since. In the last two years alone, it has brought down negotiations to limit emissions from plastics and shipping and acted as a “wrecking ball” at the COP talks. Aramco representatives are heavily embedded within the Saudi delegation, including at COP26 when ~45% were reported to be employees and at COP29 where its CEO received VIP treatment. 

Aramco’s dozens of sponsorships and Saudi Arabia’s broader push into sport should be seen as part of this strategy to build soft power and increase their international leverage. Despite its clear focus on fossil fuels, Aramco uses advertising to reposition itself as contributing to climate solutions and innovation as well as to improve international brand recognition and trust. Researchers have calculated that Aramco’s FIFA sponsorship will produce almost 30 million tonnes* of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), far more than direct operational tournament emissions.

3. Aramco is clearly linked to large scale repression and health harms

In 2023, UN human rights experts warned the CEO of Aramco that its operations and misinformation were contributing to climate change to the extent that they were undermining the human right to a healthy environment. Aramco is predicted to emit 27 billion tons between 2018 – 2030. Following the ‘1,000-ton rule’, (for every 1,000 tons of CO2 pollution, one person this century will die prematurely due to the effects of climate change), this pollution can be expected to cause the premature future deaths of 27 million people. 

Aramco is also the main income source of the Saudi Arabian government, earning US$250m a day between 2016 and 2023 and making up between 27 and 40 percent of Saudi Arabia’s entire GDP. It is therefore instrumental in the functioning of a regime that violates human rights on a massive scale, including murdering critical journalists, imprisoning women’s rights activists and executing dissidents en masse. Vulnerable workers also routinely die on Aramco funded mega-projects (including those related to football). 

4. FIFA is directly undermining its own climate promises 

FIFA has committed to halving its emissions by 2030, and reaching net zero by 2040, in line with the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework. It has therefore agreed to use its platform to engage fans on climate action and “promote sustainable and responsible consumption”. However,  FIFA has totally failed to deliver on its climate commitments. It is massively increasing its emissions by choosing to promote the world’s biggest oil company and organising the most polluting World Cup ever in 2026.

5. FIFA’s core purpose is threatened by Aramco’s climate heating activities 

FIFA claims its overarching goal is to grow the game and ‘unite the world’. It does this by delivering major tournaments and returning revenues to global football associations. But this model is severely threatened by climate change, worsened by major polluters like Aramco. A more extreme climate will reduce access to football globally, both at the grassroots and the elite level. 2025’s FIFA Club World Cup was impacted by extreme heat and storms, endangering supporters and players. Those risks are predicted to reoccur at the World Cups in 2026 (in North America), 2030 (in Portugal, Spain and Morocco) and 2034 (Saudi Arabia). More information on the 2026 World Cup’s climate risks available here. 

*This calculation is based on the academic literature on expected returns on (sponsorship) investments. Full methodology available here.