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Federal Sports Minister Anika Wells has supported FIFA's decision to scrap a partnership between Saudi Arabia's tourism arm and the 2023 Women's World Cup, calling it a "distraction" for athletes whose voices should be listened to regarding investment and sponsorships of teams and tournaments.
- Anika Wells said the planned sponsorship was an opportunity to talk about "the empowerment … of women and girls in society"
- She and her NZ counterpart also expressed concern to FIFA about the deal's potential impact on domestic tourism
- About 1.5 million people are expected to attend the July tournament
FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed last week that the deal would not be going ahead after months of criticism from current and former players, fans, human rights organisations, and the governing bodies of co-hosting nations Australia and New Zealand.
"There were discussions with Visit Saudi but, in the end, these did not lead to a contract," he told media at FIFA's annual congress in Kigali.
"It was a storm in a teacup."
Much of the criticism revolved around Saudi Arabia's human rights record, particularly its treatment of women and the LGBTQIA+ community, and how contrary such a partnership would be for a women's sport tournament in which many athletes and fans identify as part of these groups.
Football Australia and Football New Zealand wrote letters to FIFA once the news of the sponsorship was made public, expressing their "serious disappointment and concern" over the partnership they had no knowledge of or input into.
"We cannot express strongly enough the potential repercussions and fall-out that could result from this decision," the Football Australia letter said.
"Australia and New Zealand, both as sovereign nations and as football associations, have for decades placed the utmost importance on gender equality, and have sought to promote these ideals around the world.
"While we acknowledge some important and positive gender equality reforms have commenced in Saudi Arabia, it remains undeniable, under any reasonable standard, that the rights of women remain severely restricted."
The concerns were echoed by a number of high-profile footballers including USA stars Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, who described the sponsorship as "bizarre" and "outrageous."
Former Matildas vice-captain and FIFA executive Moya Dodd was also publicly critical of the deal, highlighting the dangers of promoting tourism to a nation where homosexuality was outlawed and women continued to require permission from male guardians for basic rights such as reproductive health care, marriage, and divorce.
Wells revealed the Australian and New Zealand governments had also been kept in the dark regarding the Visit Saudi sponsorship, only finding out after they were informed by their respective football federations in early February following media reports.
Wells's office then quickly arranged calls with New Zealand Sport Minister Grant Robertson, as well as several state sport ministers, to discuss next steps, organising meetings with both FIFA and other major sponsors to navigate the situation privately.
"I don't shy away from having difficult discussions, and I think it's in Australia's interest to engage with those who don't always share our views, particularly when it comes to economic and security interests," Wells told ABC.
"I don't think engagement precludes us from raising concerns on issues that matter. And in this case, I think this is such an opportunity for us to talk about the empowerment and inclusion of women and girls in society.
"It's a great opportunity for Australia and New Zealand to demonstrate our values in this space, and I really welcome the outcome that allows us to do that."
The public backlash from athletes was also taken into consideration by both the government and FIFA during negotiations over the future of the partnership, with Wells saying athletes' perspectives ought to be taken into greater consideration when it came to future funding and sponsorship arrangements in sport following events in both netball and cricket over the past year.
"I'm very big on the athletes' voice," she said.
"The athletes and players were expressing concern, and we always want to make sure that we lift up their voices and feed them constructively into discussions.
"What's been happening in Australian sport in the past six to 12 months [is] athletes have been speaking up more about the names of sponsors they're prepared to wear on their shirts or otherwise.
"I would point to the experience of the Diamonds, where they ultimately had a huge influx of offers to support them when that situation played out.
"My principle on this is that athletes have the right to have a voice. Athletes are not just chess pieces that should get moved around the chessboard by executives.
"Any sponsor continuing or considering getting involved with sport should be thinking about whether their brand and their values are going to be aligned with the team and the values that they seek to represent."
Another major concern for the federal governments was tourism, with questions arising from several host cities about the potential for another country to be advertising itself during a tournament that was intended, in part, to benefit their local economies.
"The idea that we'd have a Visit Saudi sponsorship for an Australian and New Zealand event, I didn't want to see any limitation on the opportunities for Australian and New Zealand tourism," Wells said.
"Even if it was a question of signage on the field, we want people — because we're expecting 60,000 international visitors and over 1.5 million attendees — we want people to be seeing the sights and sounds of Australia, for the tourism benefits to flow to us as the host countries.
"So that was a particular concern that we were trying to work through with my federal ministerial colleagues like senator Don Farrell, the minister for trade.
"I think the outcome [of expressing concern to FIFA] is what you see: that they haven't proceeded with any deal with Visit Saudi, which allows Australia and New Zealand as host nations to really work together … to make sure that these opportunities, particularly in tourism and trade, go to our countries and the businesses and organisations that do that role for us in our countries."
Asked whether the Visit Saudi sponsorship would have destabilised any other funding agreements already in place from the host nations' end, Wells said it was "speculative", instead expressing her hope that there would be no more "distractions" for the Matildas ahead of the July tournament.
"I'm just glad that, now that they have confirmed the deal will not proceed, none of those things are at risk and we can continue to work towards making this a marquee event.
"This is the third-biggest event in the world after the Olympics and men's World Cup. Two and a half billion viewers across the world. We just saw the Socceroos light up the country with their successes and their heart in [Qatar].
"We can now really focus on backing the Matildas in and making sure that their pathway to success does not have any other distractions, that they just have the country cheering them on."