A newly published, 95-page Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has revealed how the sovereign wealth fund has “facilitated and benefited from human rights abuses” and how sportswashing has helped “to whitewash reputational harm.”

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals were held in Riyadh in November, the first installment of a three-year agreement. The prize money was $5.15 million (€4.87 million) for the tournament, matching that of the ATP Finals. This meant for the first time ever, the women’s and men’s year-end champions earned the same reward.

The sums of money being poured into golf, football and motor racing in Saudi Arabia have also been astoundingly high, too. As demand grows for more professionalism within women’s sports across multiple disciplines, the significant financial incentives being offered by the PIF are hard to turn down, especially in a sporting landscape where women’s teams often struggle for funding, sponsorships and visibility.

“Investing in women’s sports sends great signals to both the domestic Saudi population and the rest of the world that they are doing great stuff for women,” Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game — an initiative promoting democracy, transparency and freedom of expression in world sport — told DW.

“Which then leads to more or less or no discussion about the continued human rights abuses of women in the country.”

Reality different for women in Saudi Arabia

While the push for equality is supposedly evident, women in Saudi Arabia continue to live under strict male guardianship laws.

The system requires women to obtain permission from a male relative — usually a father, husband or brother — for many aspects of their lives, including marriage, travel and sometimes access to health care or education.

Even after recent incremental progress for women in Saudi Arabia, problems remain.

“There are still a number of women’s rights defenders, either in prison or under house arrest, serving long prison sentences for social media posts advocating for women’s rights,” Minky Worden, HRW’s director of global initiatives, told DW.

Worden also believes the male guardianship system might have played a role in the poor crowd numbers for the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

“Moreover, the WTA did not do the work to make it safe for their players, because their players were being questioned about the women in jail. That’s not right,” Worden said.

“The players should have been concentrating on playing their best game, not worrying about whether a journalist is going to ask them why they aren’t doing more to get women’s rights defenders out of jail.”

Earlier in 2024, former tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova wrote an open letter to WTA chief Steve Simon saying hosting the finals in Saudi Arabia “would represent a significant step backwards” and that it was “entirely incompatible with the spirit and purpose of women’s tennis and the WTA itself.”

Eventual tournament winner Coco Gauff admitted she had her “reservations” about playing in Saudi Arabia, citing the country’s treatment of women and the LGBTQ+ community. Gauff said she was hopeful the WTA’s presence in Saudi Arabia for the next three years would help introduce more Saudi women to tennis and “enact more equality.”

Women central to much-publicized Saudi Vision 2030

Since 2018, Saudi Arabia’s PIF has invested billions of euros into men’s sports, and the country look set to host the 2034 men’s FIFA World Cup. The decision to diversify toward investing in women’s sports appears an equally considered move.

Women are central to the much-publicized Saudi Vision 2030, the country’s ambitious blueprint for economic and social reform, spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A key goal of the plan is to empower women to contribute more significantly to Saudi society and its workforce.

Currently, though, as the HRW report found, there is no evidence that “PIF-funded projects advanced the government’s obligations to fulfill economic, social and cultural rights of its people.”

“I do believe that they have an interest in getting more women to do sports in Saudi Arabia and get a healthier population,” said Elsborg.

“I also think that one of the key factors behind their sport strategy is that they really don’t want people to talk about the lack of women’s or LGBTQ+ rights. They want us to talk about all the good things that they do for world sport and that they do for women’s sports as well.”

While the increased remuneration remains attractive, many female athletes have raised their voices against Saudi Arabia’s involvement in women’s sports.

In October, in response to an announcement that FIFA was entering into a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Aramco, over 100 international players signed an open letter criticizing the deal as a betrayal of women’s sports values and human rights. The group suggested including female athletes on decision-making boards for future partnerships.​

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“Players have no say when it comes to sponsorships and partnerships and that’s one of the big problems,” Elsborg said.

“What the players expressed in their letter to FIFA about having a review committee, where the players could have more say about sponsorships their organizations have, could possibly be a way forward for women’s sport.”

Edited by: Jonathan Harding

Former India player Ravi Shastri has opined that the IPL 2026 clash between the Delhi Capitals (DC) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would be a great contest. He highlighted that CSK have gathered momentum lately, with Ruturaj Gaikwad’s return to form also helping his captaincy.

DC and CSK will square off in the 48th game of IPL 2026 in Delhi on Tuesday, May 5. Both sides have garnered eight points from nine games, with CSK placed a rung higher at sixth on the points table due to their superior net run rate.

During a discussion on JioHotstar, Shastri reckoned that Gaikwad and Sanju Samson’s form should make CSK competitive in their IPL 2026 clash against DC. However, he gave Axar Patel and company a slight edge in Tuesday’s game.

“It will be a mighty contest because the Chennai Super Kings have got a little momentum. Having said that, the Delhi Capitals have been slightly unlucky this season. They have lost many close matches, with little, little mistakes, or else they would have had four more points. Mitchell Starc has returned. So their bowling has gotten strengthened a little,” the former India all-rounder said.

“Ruturaj Gaikwad coming in form makes a huge difference because there is a difference in his captaincy as well. Sanju Samson is in tremendous form. If the top three of any side fires, it means you are in the contest. I would give Delhi the slight upper hand because it’s a home game and because of the team they have. These are extremely important two points,” he added.

Sanju Samson has amassed 315 runs at a strike rate of 167.55 in nine innings in IPL 2026. Ruturaj Gaikwad has scored 245 runs, including unbeaten half-centuries in CSK’s previous two games, at a strike rate of 125.64 in his nine hits.

“Chennai would want to maintain the momentum, but it won’t be easy” – Harbhajan Singh on DC vs CSK IPL 2026 clash

In the same discussion, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh highlighted the significance of Tuesday’s IPL 2026 clash and opined that it won’t be easy for CSK to maintain their winning momentum.

“As Ravi bhai said, these might be the two most crucial points because whichever team loses, their chances of qualifying would become minimal. You have to win every match now. Chennai would want to maintain the momentum, but it won’t be easy,” he said.

The former CSK player gave DC the edge, highlighting that the five-time champions haven’t fired as a unit with bat and bowl.

“Delhi will be a stronger team in Delhi. I feel Delhi have much better bowling options. Chennai have won, but they have won with great difficulty. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kartik Sharma batted well. However, their batting or bowling hasn’t flourished fully as a team,” Harbhajan observed.

However, Harbhajan Singh acknowledged that the Delhi Capitals would have to work hard for the two points. He added that the home team needs to come up with better game plans, pointing out that they couldn’t defend even a 264-run total against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the same venue.