Gas and oil companies “dirty” sports with $ 5.6 billion in partnership, according to a study – Libération

2024-09-18 10:14:09

A report published by the New Weather Institute on Wednesday September 18 reveals that the oil and gas industry finances sports to the tune of several billion American dollars through 205 sponsorship agreements. The authors of the article write “breaking sports”.

The 340 million dollars invested by TotalEnergies, the 470 million dollars for its competitor Shell, or even the 1.3 million dollars invested by the company Saudi Aramco, the world leader in oil… “Fossil Company Sponsors” WHO organization “dirty sport” and their greatest value is in one from a new study Published on Wednesday, September 18 by The New Weather Institute.

Rugby World Cup sponsor

The organization behind the publication, a think tank dedicated to environmental change, decided to identify sponsors linked to gas and oil giants with different sports units. No fewer than 205 of these commercial links have been identified. Soccer, the king of sports in the world, has signed 59 of these amazing sponsors, for a total budget of 994 million dollars. In the background, motor sports attracted 40 sponsors but received 2.8 billion dollars in return. In total, the study examined 19 sports disciplines, including rugby, golf, ice hockey and cycling, all affected by multi-million dollar contracts.

Another example, TotalEnergies sponsors the Rugby World Cup in Paris in 2023. But under fire from criticism, the oil giant has to be smart in the air areas. Indeed, it has been the target of actions by Anti-Corruption activists, who have poured petrol in front of the French Rugby Union to protest against the presence of the club.

“The future of sportsmen” under threat

However, of all the contracts identified, only 41 made their data public, so the New Climate Center had to make calculations based on such guarantees. The authors of the study then put the total value of this expenditure at $5.6 billion. The authors of the report specifically discussed the strong presence of states from the Near and Middle East in the financing of sports. The report estimates that $4.5 billion has been invested in sports leagues and teams by Gulf countries between 2022 and 2023.

Andrew Simms, executive director of the New Climate Institute, warned in a press release about the pollution and environmental damage caused by these companies, which “threatens the future of athletes, fans and events from the Winter Olympics to the World Championships. If the sport wants to have a future, it must get rid of the dirty money of the big losers and stop promoting its own destruction.».

The study points to weather disasters which have a direct impact on sports competitions, such as fires linked to a drought that will damage the Australian Tennis Open in 2020, or even Typhoon Hagabis which occurred during Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan.