The FIFA World Cup which starts today (11th June) could be the most polluting ever, with football’s governing bodies prioritising commercial expansion over environmental action.
Ahead of this summer’s tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, researchers from Loughborough University, the University of Bristol and the University of Manchester claim elite football has become dangerously tied to fossil fuel interests and unsustainable growth.
Much has rightly been made of the immediate environmental impact of the 2026 event – according to Greenly this World Cup could produce more than twice the emissions estimated in FIFA’s original bid documents, mostly due to the fact that its sustainability plans do not address fan travel, which is expected to account for nearly 88% of the tournament’s carbon footprint.
However, the new research argues that the sport’s carbon footprint is not simply a result of fan travel or stadium energy use, but is ‘politically produced’ through decades of globalisation and sponsorship deals with nations whose power and wealth depends on oil and gas extraction.
The report singles out FIFA’s partnership with Saudi oil giant Aramco, describing it as evidence that football has become central to a strategy of sportswashing by fossil fuel interests. The researchers also point to the expanded 48-team format for the 2026 tournament, which will feature 104 matches across 16 host cities spanning an entire continent. By comparison, the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar involved 64 matches.
Lead researcher Dr Mark Doidge, Reader in Sociology of Sport at Loughborough University, said: ‘Football is the world’s most popular sport, and probably the most popular activity. It is for this reason that football authorities, like FIFA, continue to exploit it for commercial profit.
‘Football is also a cultural powerhouse with millions of fans, volunteers, and players trying to make the sport better. Football can, and should, use its influence to mitigate against climate change.’
Dr Oscar Berglund from the University of Bristol was particularly scathing: ‘FIFA has made elite men’s football the primary target of Petrostate sportswashing. This World Cup, with the ridiculous Trump Peace Prize and having Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest polluter, as its main sponsor, reaches new levels.
‘It has been a key strategy of Petrostates to use football’s unrivalled cultural influence globally. They don’t need to convince us that fossil fuels are good, just that they are inevitable. So, as we watch and love our beautiful game, we come to accept the necessary evil of fossil capital.’
The report also draws on interviews with sustainability managers at European clubs, who described tensions between environmental targets and commercial demands. Researchers claim FIFA has remained ‘indifferent to better regulation’, despite the last World Cup offering a preview of football in a significantly warmer world.
The study proposes several recommendations, suggesting that FIFA should stop awarding tournaments to Petrostates, place bans on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship, and halt competition expansions.
FIFA has previously defended its sustainability strategies, arguing that major tournaments drive investment and development. However, the researchers maintain that without urgent change, football’s environmental legacy will become increasingly difficult to defend.
Th full report can be read here.