In January 2023, Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr of the Saudi Pro League (SPL) and became the highest paid player in the world with 200 million euros/year despite being 38 years old.
Entering the 2023 summer transfer season, Saudi Arabian football teams have continuously offered "super-huge" contracts with annual payments to Karim Benzema (200 million euros) and N'Golo Kante (100 million euros). Not stopping at the above two names, Luka Modric, Hugo Lloris, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Roberto Firmino are also in the sights of Middle Eastern giants, promising to make waves in Europe.
Karim Benzema joins Al-Ittihad with a huge contract value. (Photo: AL-ITTIHAD FC)
Why are these huge contracts that make European giants hesitate because of financial fair play but are a "small matter" for less famous teams? Where does the abundant financial resources come from to support representatives of one of the "lowlands" of football?
Most of the SPL teams are now publicly owned under the supervision of the Saudi Ministry of Sports and will be sold to private companies or businessmen. The country's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has the right to take over four teams, including the Saudi First Division champions and the top three SPL teams, currently Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, with a 75% stake in each team. The PIF is the 7th largest fund in the world with around 576 billion euros in assets and owns 80% of Newcastle United. This financial backing is a solid foundation for the contracts and framework proposals that have been put forward by the Saudi Arabian teams.
PIF's ownership of these teams is part of the Saudi Arabian government's "Vision 2030" plan, which aims to diversify the country's economic interests from tourism and attract foreign investment, with football seen as a stepping stone to attracting world attention. For the SPL, Saudi Arabia's Sports Minister Prince Abdullah bin Turki Al-Faisal said the goal is to make the league one of the world's top 10 leagues and increase its market value to $2.1 billion by 2030.
The blockbuster contracts that have been and are exploding in the SPL make fans think of the Chinese Super League and the collapse of the Chinese professional league, which was only launched in 2016. In terms of achievements, Saudi Arabian football has a more solid foundation from the club level. Al-Hilal has an impressive record with 4 AFC Champions League titles, the most among Asian teams. In addition to Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad has also won this tournament twice.
Not only achievements, the teams in SPL all have a long history. Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad were founded 65, 67 and 96 years ago respectively while SPL was founded less than half a century ago (47 years). The Saudi Arabian team also has many outstanding achievements compared to the Chinese team, such as 6 World Cup appearances, 10 Asian Cup appearances (3 championships), 4 FIFA Confederations Cup appearances (1 runner-up)...
The Saudi leagues failed to sell television rights until Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr. 137 TV channels around the world broadcast the SPL last season. Next season, when the SPL expands to 18 teams, each team will be allowed to field eight foreign players per game, following the Premier League model to increase drama and appeal.
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