 "How oil and gas giants are spending billions on sports to clean up their image")
Saudi Arabia has been consistently accused of ‘sportswashing,’ a term used for the country’s investment in sports and teams to improve its public image. However, Saudi Arabia is not the only entity engaging in such activities. A recent report has revealed that energy companies, particularly those profiting from fossil fuels — often referred to as ‘dirty fuel’ — are also heavily investing in sports to enhance their reputation and deflect criticism.
As per a study done by the research group New Weather Institute, the biggest oil and gas companies have spent $5.6 billion on sports sponsorship through some 205 accords. The activity of investing in sports by fossil fuel companies has been described as “sportswashing” by the report which is titled “Dirty Money — How Fossil Fuel Sponsors are Polluting Sport”.
Armaco leads ‘sportswashing’ initiatives
The report also says that football, auto racing, rugby, and golf are the sports most sponsored by oil and gas companies.
The biggest spenders in the industry include Aramco ($1.3 billion), Ineos ($777 million), Shell ($470 million) and TotalEnergies ($340 million).
Middle East petrol states are growing their presence in the sports world, even as the summer of 2024 was globally the hottest ever, the report says.
The study identified 205 active sports agreements signed by companies linked to fossil fuels, of which only 41 revealed financial details.
To fill the data gap, the authors made estimates based on similar agreements whose amounts were disclosed, using SportBusiness database and publicly available sources.
Impact Shorts
View AllEnergy companies face pushback
Sports organizations have faced pushback from the public for their ties to companies responsible for carbon emissions.
At the 2023 Rugby World Cup, TotalEnergies kept a low profile at the fan zones in Paris. It decided against being a sponsor of the Paris Olympics in 2024 after Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo expressed her opposition.
“Air pollution from fossil fuels and the extreme weather of a warming world threaten the very future of athletes, fans and events ranging from the Winter Olympics to World Cups,” said Andrew Simms, co-director of the New Weather Institute.
“If sport is to have a future it needs to clean itself of dirty money from big polluters and stop promoting its own destruction.”
With agency inputs
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