Saudi Arabia made headlines recently—not for oil, human rights violations, or censorship—but for signing an unprecedented portfolio of renewable energy deals. On July 14, 2025, the Kingdom signed five solar power purchase agreements with a total 12 GW capacity and two wind power PPAs for another 3 GW. This behemoth 15 GW clean energy commitment is being hailed as a landmark achievement in clean energy globally.
But as a steadfast opponent of letting Saudi Arabia host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, I see this for what it is: not a genuine green promise, but a double-barreled effort at sportswashing and greenwashing to distract from a dark human rights record. We must not be dazzled by solar panels and shiny stadiums, ignoring injustice.
The Solar Facade: A Nation Trying to Rebrand
Saudi Arabia’s latest PPAs were entered into with a consortium of developers led by ACWA Power, Badeel, and Aramco Power. The schemes are:
- 3 GW Bisha solar scheme (Aseer Region) at a record low LCOE of SAR 0.0484 ($0.0129)/kWh
- 3 GW Humaji solar scheme (Madinah Region)
- 2 GW Khulis scheme (Makkah Region)
- Afif 1 and Afif 2 (each 2 GW in Riyadh Region)
- Two wind farms of 3 GW in total
This transaction is the largest renewable capacity signed globally in one step, with investment in SAR 31 billion ($8.3 billion). On paper, it’s a green revolution. It’s a glistening diversion.
Scheduled to come into operation by 2027-2028, the projects coincide with the country’s Vision 2030, a mega rebranding initiative to reduce reliance on oil, diversify into tourism, and project a global status. But this vision is in neat, good-faith ignorance of repression at home, opposition terrorism, and antidemocratic social policy.
A Regime Unfair to Human Rights Cannot Be Trusted with World Events
The Saudi government still commits grave violations of human rights:
- Public punishment and corporal punishment remain legal.
- LGBTQ+ individuals are criminalized and persecuted.
- Activists of women’s rights are repeatedly arrested, even in the face of so-called reforms.
- Political opponents, writers, and journalists live either in fear or exile.
- No free press, no independent civil society, and no political pluralism.
The record of Saudi Arabia on human rights stands in contradistinction to the values FIFA claims to uphold: dignity, equality, and respect. To stage an international celebration like the World Cup in a country where those values mean nothing is not hypocritical—it is morally corrupt.
Sportswashing and Greenwashing: The Twin Tools of Tyranny
Saudi Arabia is implementing an aggressive twin approach to whitewash its image:
- Sportswashing – through investing in football, golf, boxing, and now winning the rights to the 2034 World Cup, it gains international legitimacy and soft power through sport.
- Greenwashing – through announcing huge renewable projects, the Kingdom wishes to be seen as being environmentally progressive yet still one of the world’s leading oil exporters.
Why FIFA Must Take Away Hosting Rights Now
Awarding the 2034 FIFA World Cup to Saudi Arabia sends a chilling message: human rights don’t matter as long as you have money and media control. If FIFA is serious about its professed ideals of fairness, transparency, and inclusion, it must reconsider:
- Would LGBTQ+ fans be allowed to attend games in Saudi Arabia?
- Can the media cover freely without being arrested?
- Will women be able to watch games without cultural constraints?
- Can the workers building the infrastructure be guaranteed protection and fair pay?
- The answer, based on history and present behavior, is no.
Progress Without Justice Is a Lie
Let us be crystal clear: progress in renewable energy cannot be taken as a permit to ignore human rights. No amount of clean electricity can compensate for:
- Crushing political opposition
- Ignoring basic freedoms
- Employing migrant workers as cheap labor for mega-events
Real sustainability is not just about energy efficiency, but equal government, freedom, and justice. Saudi Arabia may achieve 20 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2026, but if its prisons are still filled with peaceful protesters, then it is not a sustainable nation—it is merely a greener dictatorship.
Global Citizens Must Speak Up: Say NO to FIFA 2034 in Saudi Arabia
As human beings, citizens, and football fans, we have a moral duty to speak up. We cannot allow the world’s sport to be turned into a dictator’s smokescreen.
We should demand:
- FIFA withdraws hosting rights from Saudi Arabia until it meets international human rights standards.
- Human rights provisions should be made and enforced in all future bid dossiers.
- Independent press freedom, LGBTQ+ protection, and equal women’s rights must be non-negotiable conditions of hosting global events.
- FIFA has done it before—suspension of nations for war or corruption. Why not human rights?
Defend the Soul of the Game
We’re not disagreeing with football. We’re not disagreeing with progress. We’re disagreeing with hypocrisy.
The FIFA World Cup is more than a sports competition. It is an international icon of solidarity, fervor, and equality. By awarding it to a nation like Saudi Arabia—without calling for sweeping changes—we are destroying all that the sport purports to represent.
It’s time to take action:
- Speak out on social media
- Send a letter to FIFA and call for reconsideration
- Sign petitions, campaigns, and coalitions
- Inform others about the truth behind the glamour
- Because no World Cup is worth the price of silence.
- Don’t Let Solar Panels Blind You to Injustice
The world shouldn’t be misled by solar numbers or billion-dollar investments. We’re pro-green energy, but we won’t turn a blind eye to the red flags. Saudi Arabia’s renewable fantasies are strategic, not altruistic. And awarding them the world’s biggest sporting event in 2034 is a monumental mistake. Football can do better. The world can do better. Saudi Arabia ought not to host the FIFA World Cup 2034.