In October 2022, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced a sponsorship deal with Saudi Aramco, the Saudi-owned state oil giant. The partnership covers "all major men's and women's events scheduled until the end of 2023".

The deal has been criticised as the latest example of Saudi Arabia's "sportwashing" ventures - the hosting, sponsoring or other association of the state with sports ventures in a soft power move that aims to improve the reputation of states which are reportedly notorious human rights abusers. It has also been criticised by iNews over Saudi Aramco's reputation as one "of the planet's biggest polluters" and contribution to climate change.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited the ICC to respond to the concerns raised; they did not respond.