Climate protesters to target FIFA’s Saudi oil sponsor at World Cup sites

Climate activists are planning protests on Sunday against FIFA’s sponsorship deal with Saudi state-owned oil and gas giant Aramco at World Cup sites and fan zones across the United States. Organizer Zan Dubin told POLITICO the protests aim to pressure FIFA into dropping Aramco while highlighting how oil company advertising becomes part of fans’ World Cup memories, a practice she called “sportswashing,” as greenhouse gas emissions from oil use raise global temperatures.

The main action is set to take place outside SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles ahead of the Belgium-Iran match. The protest is an extension of a local campaign called Dodger Fans Against Fossil Fuels, a Los Angeles-based effort that has gathered nearly 30,000 signatures urging Dodgers owner Mark Walter to drop oil company Phillips 66. FIFA announced Aramco as a major worldwide partner in 2024, granting the company sponsorship rights across several tournaments, including the 2026 Men’s World Cup and the 2027 Women’s World Cup. The deal faced pushback from climate and human rights groups, and more than 100 professional women’s soccer players later urged FIFA to drop it. Aramco’s logo appears prominently in stadiums and on global match broadcasts.

The Los Angeles protest is being organized by a local chapter of the Sierra Club and Third Act SoCal and is expected to include Extinction Rebellion Lamenters, street-theater demonstrators dressed in sackcloth. Dubin said she was also in touch with protesters planning to show up at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami before a match there, as well as at fan sites in New Jersey, Seattle and Dallas.