A list was drawn up and funding secured. Saudi Arabia is trying to attract a world-famous footballer to join Cristiano Ronaldo in the domestic league. And to close deals, they rely on the only product they know they can offer more than any rival league: money.
Ambitiously similar to the Saudi-funded campaign to dominate golf through the new LIV series, the plan is backed at the highest levels of Saudi Arabia and financed by the country’s giant sovereign wealth fund. seems to be a focused effort to change the situation. Making the domestic league, a footnote on the world football stage, a destination for top talent.
To make that happen, Saudi clubs are already approaching players who are willing to move to Saudi Arabia for the highest salaries in the history of the sport. The deal could require more than $1 billion in wages for about 20 foreign players.
Since Ronaldo’s arrival, the Saudi league has paid more to distribute talent evenly among the biggest teams, according to interviews with agencies, TV executives, Saudi sports officials and consultants hired to implement the project. It is said that they have been considering whether to centrally adjust such contracts. Details were not previously reported, but the people spoke on condition of anonymity because the deals involved were private.
In recent weeks, more and more leaks have surfaced about big offers for big-name players: Lionel Messi, who led Argentina to a World Cup win in December, is said to have been tempted by a deal. Even more expensive than Ronaldo’s Saudi dealand the French striker Karim BenzemaThe reigning Player of the Year has reportedly agreed to leave Real Madrid on a nine-figure deal to play in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi league’s UK chief executive Gary Cook, a former Nike executive who briefly ran Manchester City after it was bought by the brother of the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, I am tasked with carrying out this plan. Cook did not respond to an email requesting comment. League officials also did not respond to requests for comment on the plan.
The project comes after Saudi Arabia’s amazing performance at last year’s men’s World Cup in Qatar. The team’s strong run also included a stunning victory over eventual champions Argentina, boosting pride in the streets of Saudi Arabia and the halls of power in Riyadh. The goal of the project is not to put the Saudi League on par with century-old competitions like the English Premier League and other top European competitions, but to increase Saudi influence in the sport and perhaps by 2030. It is to raise the name recognition for the world competition of. cup.
But the effort is also reminiscent of a similar plan from a decade ago when China tried to force its way into the world football story through a series of high-profile and expensive acquisitions. That bold plan, which was ultimately stymied by contract cancellations, economic collapse and the coronavirus pandemic, now appears to be coming to an end.
Plans for the Saudi league to become Asia’s leading domestic competition are similarly subject to the whims of the country’s leaders, and could be derailed by sudden changes in direction or the signing of much-needed elite talent. There is also Players will also be signing contracts with teams that have regularly attended arbitration hearings claiming unpaid fees and salaries.
Leagues, rather than clubs, will centrally negotiate player transfers and assign players to specific teams, according to interviews with people familiar with the project. major league soccer It has built a worldwide reputation. A central deal would be a departure from the practice typical in many other parts of the world, where clubs sign and trade players directly on their own.
The size of Saudi Arabia’s military budget is unclear, but officials briefed on the matter say it is as large as the list of players the league has identified as potential recruits. Much of the money recently invested in the league and clubs has come from the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, chaired by the kingdom’s powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
The fund has signed four of the Saudi Premier League’s most popular clubs with 20-year commercial deals worth tens of millions of dollars. The agreements will require two teams from Riyadh and two from the port city of Jeddah to play matches in a new arena inside an entertainment complex being built by a subsidiary of PIF. PIF also sponsors the league itself through property developer Roshun, one of the companies in its portfolio.
One of the people briefed on the plan, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly, said the goal is for each of the four major teams to field three top foreign players, plus eight more. It is said that one player will participate. Distributed among the remaining 12 teams in the league.
The move towards a more unified league would end the period of autonomy allowed for clubs, but it would help the Saudi state change its perception of the country on the world stage and diversify its sport. It further indicates an interest in using sports as part of it. An economy away from oil. Saudi Arabia has been one of the biggest spenders in global sports in recent years, hosting major events in the country and investing in sports facilities.
PIF is also the driving force behind many of them. Acquiring English Premier League side Newcastle United two years ago, their funding and smart hiring have helped them achieve their best league performance in decades and qualify for the Champions League next season. rice field. Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco is a major sponsor of the F1 car racing series. But perhaps the PIF’s flashiest endeavor is golf, where it’s spent billions creating the LIV, an established Tour rival sport in North America and Europe.
All of these projects have come under intense scrutiny amid allegations that Saudi Arabia is using its sports investments to divert attention from its human rights record. But the golf series in particular shows that Saudi interest in the sport may not be deterred, even if it fails to deliver the promised economic benefits. And Saudi officials have strongly denied the allegations of “sports wash”, saying that some of the motivations behind their foray into global sport include catering to sports enthusiasts and the fact that obesity and diabetes are common. claimed to include promotion of physical activity in one country.
Discussions with footballer candidates and their representatives are ongoing. Saudi Arabia’s sudden cash-deep presence could cause further disruption to football’s frenetic summer trading season, which typically runs from June to August.
In a kingdom with a rich football history of its own and one where the sport is hotly pursued, bolstering the best four may not be generally popular. Teams not counted in the elite group have already expressed frustration at the prospect of being left behind.
The sense of injustice was most pronounced at Al-Shabaab, Riyadh’s third-largest club, overshadowed by prominent rivals Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal and their two Jeddah counterparts. had to fight. Al-Ittihad and al-Ahly counterparts.
“I buried the ‘Big Four’ myth with my own hands,” Al-Shabaab president Khalid Al-Bartan told reporters at the end of last season when Al-Ahly were relegated to the second division for the first time. . history. Al-Bartan’s squad includes star players such as Fuad Anwar Amin and Saeed Al-Owairan, who won the Saudi League in the 1990s and led Saudi Arabia to the knockout stages in the country’s first World Cup appearance in 1994. Was.
Saudi Arabia’s sports ministry is currently funding a major renovation of the al-Shabaab stadium north of Riyadh, but Al-Bartan said that while he was careful not to name the government or the PIF, he did not agree with the support. They complain violently about the shortage.
“The gap is getting too big. We cannot compete with other clubs in our financial situation,” Al-Bartan said at a press conference last week. I wondered out loud how Al-Shabaab should compete when Ronaldo’s salary is high. The season is four times the size of his club’s annual budget.
“Am I expected to fill that big gap myself?” he asked. “My car is a small Japanese sedan and somehow I am expected to race Lamborghinis and Ferraris. What if I can’t win? This is not logical.”
