Fifa has not engaged with the 133 female footballers who wrote to the governing body’s president, Gianni Infantino, last month seeking the removal of Saudi Aramco as sponsors of the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, according to Republic of Ireland midfielder Lily Agg.
Agg, who signed the letter sent to Infantino, along with fellow Irish internationals Diane Caldwell, Kyra Carusa, Ciara Grant and Sinead Farrelly, expressed disappointment without being surprised by the lack of a response.
“It would [be disappointing], but do we expect one?” asked Agg. “I don’t think we went into it with potentially high expectations. We’ll see.”
The letter called sponsorship of a women’s World Cup by the national oil company of Saudi Arabia a “stomach punch,” while highlighting the current imprisonment of six Saudi women for “peaceful expression of their views”.
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The players asked Infantino to “imagine LGBTQ+ players, many of whom are heroes of our sport, being expected to promote Saudi Aramco during the 2027 World Cup, the national oil company of a regime that criminalises the relationships that they are in and the values they stand for?”.
Fifa dropped plans for Visit Saudi to sponsor the 2023 women’s World Cup following a backlash from players and coaches.
“I’m someone who is quite direct,” said Agg in advance of the first leg of the Euro 2025 play-off against Wales on Friday in Cardiff. “When I was approached by Diane [Caldwell], it’s something that I did not have a problem at all putting my name forward for.
“I think it obviously shows a bit of courage, because we often worry about the repercussions of doing things like that, but we have a platform and I believe we should stand up and stay true to things that we believe in.
“It’s also a scary, daunting thing,” Agg continued. “People don’t want to [speak out], which is understandable. Just in terms of the background for women’s rights, especially in Saudi, I think we’re sheltered from quite a lot of what goes on. I’m more than happy to speak up for that.”
In a statement to the Athletic, a Fifa spokesperson stated that revenue generated from the Aramco deal is reinvested into the women’s game. However, in response, New Zealand captain Katie Rood said the Saudi oil money “isn’t necessarily going to go where the women’s game needs”.
Ireland players arrived in camp on Monday, with fitness concerns around Megan Campbell, Heather Payne and Aoife Mannion.
More than 20,000 tickets have been sold for the second leg at the Aviva Stadium on December 3rd, which is less than the three previous attendances – 35,944 versus Northern Ireland (November 2023), 32,794 versus England (April 2024) and 22,868 versus Sweden (May 2024) – since some female internationals were rerouted from Tallaght to Lansdowne Road.
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