‘We do not want to sell our souls’: women soccer players and their fight against FIFA’s Aramco sponsorship

Over one hundred professional women footballers from around the world signed an open letter to the International Federation of Association Football to protest its 2024 sponsorship deal with Saudi Arabian petrochemical company Aramco. The players objected to Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations, especially against women and the LGBTQI+ population. This study utilizes feminist standpoint theory to analyze how the marginalization of women in football forges a unique intersectional standpoint that challenges the institutional legitimacy of FIFA’s profit-driven model. The women revealed that their marginalization in football contributes to an ethos of inclusivity and solidarity within their sport, as well as their commitment to fighting social and environmental injustice. Their activism reflects a feminist political logic rooted in marginalisation, care, and responsibility for others, and highlights how women athletes’ structurally precarious position can generate distinctive modes of resistance that challenge institutional legitimacy from the margins.