Saudi Arabia billions could change football forever as Pro League targets Europe's elite
The nation's Public Investment Fund is spending vast sums to strengthen its domestic championship and this summer's transfers look like just the beginning...
Cristiano Ronaldo is a five-time Ballon d’Or winner and Real Madrid’s record scorer. Karim Benzema is the most-recent recipient of the Golden Ball and is second on Los Blancos’ all-time goals list. N’Golo Kanté is a World Cup winner with France and a former Premier League Player of the Season. All three will be playing their club football in Saudi Arabia next season.
Those three players are in their thirties: Ronaldo is 37; Benzema is 35; Kanté is 32. It is not uncommon nor new for footballers to end their careers with lucrative moves to smaller, wealthier leagues, but the Saudi Pro League clearly has bigger ideas. Al-Hilal’s £47 million deal to recruit Wolves’ 26-year-old midfielder Rúben Neves is therefore another statement signing. He is approaching his prime.
The summer transfer window only opened officially in mid-June and already, a number of other elite Europe-based players have been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia. Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy is reportedly close to joining Al-Ahli, while Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva is interesting Al-Hilal and Tottenham’s Son Heung-min was a target for Al-Ittihad.
Spurs’ South Korean attacker has already revealed he has no intention of leaving the Premier League, but many others will be lured by the money on offer in Saudi Arabia and the Pro League’s pursuit of the top players in Europe is set to have a significant impact on the transfer market this summer.
The Saudis had hoped to tempt Lionel Messi to their Pro League as well, but the Argentine attacker opted to sign for MLS side Inter Miami instead. However, Messi does have a commercial agreement to promote tourism in Saudi Arabia.
Over the past few years, the nation has invested billions in professional sports. That has included the controversial LIV Golf venture, a Formula One race on the calendar and championship boxing matches. But football has been high on the agenda, too: the country’s PIF (Public Investment Fund) has already purchased Premier League club Newcastle United, while the revamped four-team Spanish Supercopa takes place annually in Saudi Arabia and a similar deal has been confirmed for the Supercoppa Italiana to follow. Now, the focus appears to be on strengthening the sport at home.
The PIF is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of £508 billion and is driving the nation’s 2030 Vision.
Part of that vision was expected to be hosting the 2030 World Cup, with Saudi Arabia teaming up with Egypt and Greece in a joint bid which would have seen 75% of the games take place in the Kingdom. However, reports in Greece now suggest the Saudis will step aside to allow the 2030 tournament to be played in Europe.
Perhaps they would prefer to have the whole tournament to themselves in future. Given their regional rivalry with last year’s hosts Qatar, it seems likely they will look to take football’s biggest tournament to the Kingdom in the near future.
In the meantime, Saudi Arabia are looking to strengthen their economy through different industries away from fossil fuels in order to secure the nation’s financial future. Their huge investment in sport is also seen as key to laundering the country’s controversial international image.
“Saudi Arabia spends billions of dollars hosting major entertainment, cultural, and sporting events to deflect from the country's poor human rights record,” Human Rights Watch have said. In its 2022 World Report, the organisation recognised some reforms in the nation but noted: “Ongoing repression and contempt for basic rights are major barriers to progress.” Amnesty International have also accused Saudi Arabia of “sportswashing to try to obscure its extremely poor human rights record.”
Former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher has called for the Saudi spending to be investigated by UEFA and the Premier League, although those remarks have brought claims of hypocrisy. Rightly, too, because a large part of the Premier League’s riches already come from that part of the world.
Unlike the Chinese Super League, which initially attracted a number of top players including former Brazilian internationals Hulk and Oscar before investment began to dry up following a change of heart from the government, the Saudi championship has a long-term vision. And according to Sky Sports, the nation hopes to have 100 of the best foreign players in the Pro League within five years.
Money makes things happen and the huge investment certainly looks set to change the face of football in the coming years. But as with China, Russia and the United States in the past, the Saudis’ biggest challenge will be to attract the game’s elite players during their peak years. Because despite the Pro League’s considerable financial muscle, it will a very long time before it can begin to rival Europe’s top domestic competitions and the Champions League in terms of prestige.
Very nice piece, Ben!
Let me explain the real reason why Saudi is spending big not just in sports but all round. It’s a pissing contest between the two Mohammed’s. MBS vs MBZ. That’s Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi vs Mohammed bin Zayed of UAE. They are engaged in a Cold War. MBS is a protege of MBZ. MBZ took him under his wings more than a decade ago, trained him, gave him the know how, that’s how he was successful at ousting the previous King and taking over and detaining all his cousins and nephews at the Ritz. Now he wants to prove himself by going to war with UAE in all areas to make Saudi the super power of the Gulf. This is the real reason they spend on concerts, F1 races, football and real estate and so forth.
Here’s the issue with Arab Football. Arabs are wealthy. They don’t need football to pay their bills or make millions from it. That doesn’t pushes them to take football seriously. I remember the days of Adnan Talyani (UAE captain). He would tell me why UAE footballers are not great at football. Most of his team mates wouldn’t show up for training. If they do, they are playing PlayStation. Their fitness was poor because of what they eat. The Sports council was the son of a rich guy so all he cared about a fat gov salary and house and cars. The Royals who govern such institutions are super rich so their focus was more selling oil and building hotels or malls than focusing on sports. The weather also doesn’t helps. Crowds don’t go to stadiums because of the year round heat. Parents don’t push their kids to play football or dream about winning World Cup unlike in Europe or other countries where parents would take their kid for Sunday football or school competitions. Here, kids are mostly brought up by the nanny and taken to school by their drivers. It’s the culture.
China tried the same. You can’t make your league better by buying out (bribing really) ‘almost’ retired European players. They should instead invest in good coaches and academies.
Saudi spending is temporary. UAE did the same.