A new international club cricket tournament in South America has drawn the ire of climate advocates after signing a deal with an oil and gas company.
Guyana's Global Super League, which runs from Nov. 26 to Dec. 6 and features teams from Australia, Bangladesh, England, Pakistan, and the host nation, announced its signing of ExxonMobil as its title sponsor on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"ExxonMobil Guyana has a long history of supporting cricket in Guyana. They are an ideal title sponsor — we appreciate their continued investment in Guyana," league chairman Sir Clive Lloyd said, per the post.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Guyana has the fastest-growing economy based on real gross domestic product at 43.8% — more than quadruple the next-highest country. Most of its rapid growth stems from ExxonMobil's offshore drilling projects, which have brought in $5.4 billion in revenues and royalties for the Guyana Natural Resource Fund since 2019.
ESPN reported the GSL is at the forefront of the country's strategy to market itself as a destination for sports tourism. The government has contended that these efforts will diversify the economy while helping it move on from the dirty energy industry.
How the GSL's deal with ExxonMobil — a company that uses well-intentioned technology to increase its dirty energy production and also recently lost a $725 million lawsuit for allegedly exposing an employee to a carcinogen — will facilitate this transition remains unclear.
Nonetheless, the partnership is yet another example of the growing trend of sportswashing, in which organizations use athletics as a way to improve their image and deflect from misdeeds.
Oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco has been particularly involved in this practice, spending $100 million to sponsor FIFA and $1.3 billion across 10 agreements with various motorsport, soccer, golf, and cricket entities.
Game Changer Sponsorship Pledge (@KickFossilFuels) on X criticized ExxonMobil's involvement with the GSL, noting the irony of it all. "From floods to wildfires, Guyana has been devastated by climate breakdown!" the account wrote. "This cannot go on!"
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