When the news came out that Saudi Arabia and Mexico had entered into a new cooperation agreement on accounting, auditing, and professional supervision, it was blown off as a technical development of interest only to financial professionals. However, in truth, such agreements are not as often as they seem. They are part of a deliberate long-term strategy by Saudi Arabia to gain international legitimacy, legitimize its institutions, and buff its image before the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
This pact, signed in Mexico City by Hussam Al-Angari, the president of Saudi Arabia’s General Court of Audit, and David Colmenares Paramo, Mexico’s Supreme Audit Institution leader, may seem to encourage accountability and transparency. But the irony is inescapable: Saudi Arabia, a nation repeatedly criticized for its opacity, lack of press freedom, and neglect of basic human rights, is attempting to present itself as a world leader in government.
Audit Diplomacy or Reputation Laundering?
On its face, the alliance includes technical cooperation, mutual workshops, training programs, and harmonized auditing procedures. But these gestures have a symbolic significance. By aligning itself with Mexico’s reputable audit agency, Saudi Arabia sends the signal to the world that it is on the side of global standards of financial responsibility and adherence.
This is not just about numbers. It is reputation washing. Saudi Arabia knows that legitimacy is not gained solely on the football pitch; it is built through international alliances that frame the Kingdom as modern, responsible, and credible. Those alliances are subsequently trotted out on the international stage as evidence that Saudi Arabia is “ready” to host international events such as FIFA 2034.
The Contradiction of Accountability
The hypocrisy is conspicuous. Saudi Arabia wants accountability abroad. Domestic accountability is non-existent.
- Saudi Arabia is one of the least free nations on earth, scoring a paltry 8/100 in Freedom House’s 2024 Freedom in the World report.
- The Kingdom persists in imprisoning journalists, human rights activists, and even regular citizens for tweets or criticism that can be described only as muted.
- Financial management within Saudi Arabia is opaque, and there’s minimal independent scrutiny of government expenditure, especially when it involves grand sports investments.
- Prominent Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser was executed in June 2025 after 7 years in detention for reporting corruption
How can a regime that suppresses internal dissent and censors independent auditors claim to be a model of transparency on the world stage? This is not reform. It is a theater.
Why It Matters for FIFA 2034
FIFA has long argued that hosting rights must be awarded to nations that can prove organizational ability, financial integrity, and dedication to football development. Saudi Arabia’s audit diplomacy caters directly to that narrative. Deals such as the one inked in Mexico provide FIFA with leeway to say that Saudi Arabia is developing governance capacity.
But this is a perilous delusion. Granting the World Cup to Saudi Arabia would incentivize a regime under which external alliances are employed to camouflage internal oppression. It would be a signal that a nation may get the rights to host not through improving its human rights situation but by making deals that give the impression of openness.
Sportswashing Beyond Sports
Saudi Arabia’s game plan is straightforward. It has bought Newcastle United in the Premier League, invested billions in LIV Golf, and staged Formula One events, boxing events, and WWE shows. All are under the umbrella of sportswashing, utilizing sport to divert attention from an abysmal human rights record.
But what the Mexico audit saga reveals is that Saudi Arabia’s sportswashing approach has changed. It is no longer limited to stadiums or sponsorship agreements. It branches into institutional diplomacy, where alliances in auditing, accounting, and governance are used to present the country as modern and reliable. This is sportswashing off the pitch, a systemic effort to bring Saudi Arabia into the landscape of international respectability.
The Numbers Tell the Story
These are not discrete facts; they are linked. The economic clout that allows Saudi Arabia to purchase sporting legitimacy is the same clout it employs to make international agreements that reflect accountability. None of this, however, speaks to the Kingdom’s underlying absence of rights, freedoms, and transparency.
- Saudi Arabia spent over $6.3 billion on sports deals between 2021 and 2023, according to a report by Grant Liberty.
- The Kingdom has invested $500 billion in its Vision 2030 project, with mega-sporting events at the heart of its soft power strategy.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International continues to highlight the detention of activists, mass executions, and gender-based restrictions that remain in place despite public relations campaigns.
The Danger of FIFA’s Endorsement
If FIFA awards Saudi Arabia the right to host the 2034 World Cup, it will be giving its seal of approval to this approach. It will indicate to the world that reputation management is more important than real reform. FIFA’s own reputation, already seriously tarnished by its previous corruption crisis, will be further besmirched if it continues to reward repressive regimes for investment in image over freedom, equality, and accountability.
Fans, players, and civil society cannot allow FIFA to make this the new normal. The World Cup is supposed to be a celebration of humanity, diversity, and fair play, not a vehicle for governments that reject those very values.
Accountability Abroad, Repression at Home
While Saudi Arabia speaks of foreign standards, foreign commonplace training, and foreign audits, its local reality is far from them. Human rights activists, reporters, and critics remain under detention for merely speaking. This stark contrast establishes the fact that these alliances are nothing but reputation laundering.
Audits such as the Saudi–Mexico deal must not be confused with true reform. They are one aspect of a wider campaign to get Saudi Arabia used to being a normal country on the international stage in the run-up to the 2034 FIFA World Cup. By parading international alliances in fields such as auditing, Riyadh tries to produce the image of a responsible, modern state that operates within international norms. But in fact, these partnerships conceal a continued pattern of repression domestically.
Don’t Let Audit Deals Hide the Truth
Saudi Arabia’s newest cooperation treaty with Mexico regarding auditing and oversight could pass as innocuous, but it is by no means neutral. The agreements are intended to make Saudi Arabia transparent and accountable on the global stage, yet within the country, the Kingdom represses opposition, censors opinion, and shirks real accountability.