When the FIFA Men’s World Cup arrives in Toronto soon, it will be accompanied by one of its highly controversial Major Worldwide Partners, Saudi Arabia’s national fossil fuel company, Saudi Aramco.
Aramco is one of the world’s single-largest oil producers. Estimates suggest it was responsible for emitting around 1.79 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2024 alone.
In July 2025, Toronto City Council rejected a motion that would have banned fossil fuel advertisements on publicly owned buildings and assets, including high-traffic places like BMO Field.
Introduced by Coun. Dianne Saxe in 2024, the motion was an attempt to align city policy with Toronto’s climate action goals of reaching net-zero emissions by 2040.
Now, the city will welcome one of the world’s largest advertising platforms, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Aramco as one of the major sponsors.
As FIFA comes to town with Aramco in tow, now is the time for Toronto City Council to revive discussions about banning fossil fuel advocacy ads on city assets, including at FIFA’s host venue in the city, BMO Field.
A controversial deal
Advertising is a major source of revenue for FIFA. Between 2019 and 2022, the non-profit sporting federation made almost US$1.8 billion from selling marketing rights.
The FIFA-Aramco partnership is slated to run until the end of 2027 and spans the 2026 men’s World Cup and the 2027 women’s World Cup. In 2024, Aramco’s president and CEO Amin H. Nasser said:
“Through this partnership with FIFA we aim to contribute to football development and harness the power of sport to make an impact around the globe.”
The collaboration attracted widespread criticism. In 2024, more than 130 women soccer players from 27 countries signed an open letter to FIFA calling for an end to the sponsorship deal in a condemnation of the state-owned company’s role in “burning football’s future.”
Various environmental and sports advocacy groups believe FIFA is walking back its climate commitments, especially on its responsibility to use its platform for climate action and fan engagement.
A 2025 report by Scientists for Global Responsibility and the New Weather Institute stated that more than 75 per cent of soccer’s annual emissions can be attributed to its sponsorship deals with “high carbon companies” like fossil fuel giants, airlines and fast food companies. As the report states:
“These deals stimulate carbon intensive consumer demand by promoting heavily polluting products and lifestyles (the extra emissions from which we term ‘sponsored emissions’) much in the same way tobacco sponsorship of sport in the past encouraged smoking.”
FIFA describes the World Cup as the “most effective international marketing platform.” Its list of partners, described as “top-tier sponsors,” includes other corporations with large carbon footprints, like Coca-Cola.
Soccer is particularly vulnerable to worsening climate change. A failure to mitigate the effects of climate change and adapt properly is threatening the world’s most popular sport.
Extreme weather events, like flooding and heatwaves, as well as exposure to poor air quality and pollutants, are some of the most significant health threats affecting spectators and athletes alike.
Aside from general health concerns, athlete performance and fair competition suffer due to negative climate impacts, harming the fairness and legitimacy of competition.
In addition, Aramco is primarily owned by the Saudi government, which has been sharply criticized for human rights abuses at home and for committing war crimes in neighbouring Yemen.
Global push to ban advertising
In 2024, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for all countries to implement restrictions on fossil fuel advertising due to harms to human health and the planet.
Later that year, The Hague became the first city to ban fossil fuel advertising in public spaces. The ban includes ads for high-carbon products and services like aviation, cruises, fossil-fueled or hybrid automobiles, gas-supply contracts and electricity from fossil fuel sources.
Florence made history in February by becoming the first Italian city to vote in favour of a fossil fuel advertising ban. The ban targets not only fossil fuel companies but also airlines, fuel-powered vehicles and cruise ship companies.
This action was taken in line with more than 50 other cities already restricting the advertising options of major polluters. Toronto’s failed attempt to ban advertising comes amid a global movement in which cities are restricting fossil fuel advertising.
A key concern raised by Toronto city councillors was in the failed motion’s wording: “Advertising on public assets which promotes the burning of fossil fuels.”
Although Saxe asked staff to clearly define in the motion what constitutes advertising that promotes fossil fuel burning, ambiguity remained. It was this uncertainty that ultimately resulted in the motion’s rejection.
The scope of a fossil fuel advertising ban in Toronto should align with that of The Hague and other cities to ensure comprehensive restrictions, eliminating any loopholes that might permit marketing of high-carbon products and services.
Efforts in Canada
Fossil fuel ads have resulted in controversy in Canada’s other host city, Vancouver. In 2024, Canada’s advertising standards body found that a campaign by pro-natural gas interests was misleading for claiming “B.C. LNG will reduce global emissions.”
There have been attempts to ban fossil fuel ads in British Columbia; however, these have not yet been successful.
At the national level, former NDP MP Charlie Angus proposed Bill C-372 in 2024 that would ban fossil fuel advertising nationwide if passed into law. All orders of government in Canada should take such steps to ensure fossil fuel companies cannot use platforms like FIFA’s to advertise.
FIFA’s impending arrival with a fossil fuel giant like Aramco should be a reminder of Canada’s failure to align with historic fossil fuel advertising bans being passed globally.
As Toronto and Vancouver prepare to co-host one of the biggest sports events in the world, Canadian governments should revisit a ban on advertising, and advocates, residents and soccer fans should turn up the pressure to do so.
Soccer is often celebrated as the most popular sport in the world. If it is to remain the “world’s game,” it must reflect the interests of players, fans — and the planet.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
