On December 11, 2024, FIFA announced that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. In recent years, as the kingdom has pursued a long-term and strategic policy aimed at maintaining relevance in a multiplex world increasingly turning away from petrodollars, Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as an emerging sports power by investing heavily in global and international sports. Between 2021 and 2023, Saudi Arabia spent an estimated $6 billion in football (or soccer), boxing, motorsports, martial arts, esports, and golf to incorporate sports as a key pillar of its socioeconomic diversification efforts. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, alone has signed 346 sports sponsorships either directly or through its subsidiaries. By hosting sports megaevents, such as the World Cup, Asian Cup 2027, and Asian Winter Games in 2029, Saudi Arabia aims to promote itself internationally as a trustworthy platform for sports, an attractive tourist destination, and a sports industry location.

In light of such ambitious plans and similar to previous sporting events, the sustainability dimension of the Saudi bid for the World Cup and its environmental and climate implications have come under scrutiny. In Saudi Arabia’s marketing pitch for hosting the World Cup, sustainability themes do not play a significant role. While sustainability is described as a core principle in Saudi Arabia’s bid book, the measures mentioned are vague and largely refer to overarching promises of sustainable development in the kingdom over the coming decades. Specific metrics or key performance indicators related to the tournament itself are not provided.

However, Saudi Arabia aims to link its sports engagement with issues related to sustainability, such as energy diversification and climate policies. Measures such as reducing gas flaring and expanding public transportation networks to cut carbon dioxide emissions, which have already been in practice for some time, are highlighted in the ambitious modernization agenda Vision 2030 and the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives.

For the Saudi government, though, the World Cup and other sports megaevents provide an opportunity to focus on the sports-sustainability nexus to showcase its commitment to the energy transition and sustainability as drivers for its modernization. Therefore, greater emphasis will likely be placed on sustainable practices as the event approaches, especially since criticism of the tournament’s ecological footprint is already growing. High temperatures pose significant health risks to players and spectators, while energy-intensive air-conditioning methods contribute to substantial greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, water scarcity and potential disruption to fragile desert ecosystems due to the construction of new infrastructure raise critical concerns about sustainability and ethical responsibility. Sustainability has played a prominent role in previous World Cups as well. Qatar, for instance, secured the hosting rights largely due to its promise of a “green” World Cup, although its actual record was rather modest.

The Sports-Sustainability Nexus

Saudi Arabia’s interconnected focus on sports and sustainability reveals an emerging sports-sustainability nexus. This alignment is evident in the dense network of elites (in political decision making, business, media, and culture), significant investments, and strategic green framing around Saudi involvement in international and domestic sports.

Above all is the mega sponsorship deal between Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s crown jewel oil company, and FIFA. The four-year contract is set to bring FIFA an annual $100 million, making it the most lucrative deal in FIFA’s history. In return, Aramco, as a “Major Worldwide Partner,” will receive exclusive energy rights for upcoming tournaments. That the oil giant continues to invest in the development of new oil and gas fields, generating massive profits while emissions rise, has not been commented on by FIFA, even though it has set goals to comply with the Paris Agreement on climate change, including instituting the FIFA Sustainable Sourcing Code. As Aramco is continuously focusing on a combination of carbon sequestration and carbon offsetting as a means to increasingly produce and market “clean fossils,” the World Cup bid book promotes Aramco’s sustainability initiatives as an example of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to achieve sustainability targets.

Besides football, Aramco also supports other sports, having signed 71 sponsorship agreements in recent years. Aramco has particularly turned to motorsports to promote its sustainable energy portfolio: It became a major sponsor of Formula 1 in 2020 and Aston Martin Racing in 2022. Notably, at the beginning of 2024, Aramco and Formula 1 announced plans to transition Formula 1 engines to sustainable fuels by 2026 and to achieve net-zero emissions for the sport by 2030.

By positioning itself as a “sustainable fuels champion” and engaging in research and development projects with the motorsports industry, Aramco highlights another crucial element of its portfolio: the petrochemical industry. This sector is pivotal for Aramco’s strategy to diversify beyond crude oil, given its potential for long-term revenue generation in a transitioning energy landscape. In 2020, Aramco reinforced its commitment to this industry by acquiring a 70% stake in SABIC, Saudi Arabia’s leading petrochemical giant, for $69 billion. This acquisition not only expanded Aramco’s downstream operations but also enhanced its capacity to produce high-value chemicals essential for a wide range of products – an area prominently showcased through its partnership with Formula 1. As part of this cooperation model, Aramco is interested in working on advanced lubricants and nonmetallic materials as well as educational exchange programs in engineering training and skill promotion. In golf, Aramco sponsors the Aramco Team Series and Aramco Saudi Ladies International. Finally, Aramco signed a partnership in 2024 with the International Cricket Council.

In addition to Aramco, other Saudi state entities have started to engage in the sports-sustainability nexus. Neom, the PIF-funded giga-project on the Red Sea coast that will host the Asian Winter Games in 2029, is also involved in sports sponsorship. Enowa, Neom’s energy, water, and hydrogen subsidiary, has signed partnership deals with the electric car series Extreme E. Similar to the Aramco-Formula 1 partnership, this deal links sustainable energy promotion with high-tech motorsports. Furthermore, the Saudi Ministry of Tourism, through its global initiatives Visit Saudi and Red Sea Global, is promoting the kingdom as a hub for an emerging sustainable tourism sector. Most of the initiative’s ambitious tourism projects are branded as eco- and climate friendly. Sustainable tourism thus features prominently in the kingdom’s nation-branding and diversification agendas. Here, sports also play an important role: Visit Saudi has signed sponsorship agreements with the Dakar Rally (as has Aramco), major boxing events, and Spain’s football league, La Liga. Until December 2024, Visit Saudi was also the global partner of the Asian Football Confederation.

With the 2034 World Cup, Saudi Arabia will continue to promote the sports-sustainability nexus through entities such as Aramco and Neom. Such activities target not only external partners and markets but also address a domestic audience. As sports and green credentials feature prominently in Saudi Arabia’s identity construction, local sports events, such as the Neom Beach Games, also incorporate environmental topics and market community sports as part of an active lifestyle for young generations.