The path Saudi Arabian football is taking has many similarities with China, Japan and even the US in the past. This Middle Eastern country spends a lot of money to bring to its national championship (Saudi Pro League - SPL) famous stars of world football.
Of course, not all models are created equal. Saudi Arabia seems to have made a bigger splash than the Chinese Super League (CSL) or Major League Soccer (MLS), having assembled a host of world football’s biggest stars in just one summer. But there are lessons the SPL can learn from the CSL to avoid collapse.
Ambition
Not many football leagues outside Europe can do what the SPL did in the summer of 2023, recruiting the reigning Ballon d'Or winner and a host of other big stars who are still capable of playing at the top level for a few more years. Karim Benzema, Kalidou Koulibaly, N'Golo Kante are all capable of playing for the world's top clubs for a few more years. Not to mention Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Al Nassr 6 months ago.
The Saudi Pro League is becoming a new attractive destination for world football.
However, Hakim Ziyech, who is about to become Ronaldo's teammate, or Ruben Neves, who just broke the SPL transfer record for 55 million euros, are also notable deals. At 30 years old, Ziyech certainly did not come to the SPL at the "retirement" age like Ronaldo or Benzema. Neves rejected Barca to join Al Hilal at the age of 26. The SPL's ambition is to become a tournament that gathers a series of stars at the peak of their performance, not simply a place to pay high salaries to older players.
That’s why it’s believed the SPL of 2023 has a better chance of succeeding than the CSL of a decade ago. The Saudi government is behind a series of acquisitions, unlike the private conglomerates that invest in football in China. Saudi Arabia also has specific ambitions to develop football, such as buying Newcastle United. The country’s football is also much more developed than China’s.
The successes that Al Hilal and the Saudi Arabian national team have achieved in recent times are far greater than those achieved by Chinese clubs and teams. China's lack of football culture and a solid foundation for developing the king sport makes the massive transfer deals to the CSL look like a "bubble". When the economic situation is difficult and companies are no longer able to do so, the "bubble" in the CSL burst.
Saudi Arabia has none of those problems. The government backs the deals and the oil money is enough to ensure long-term growth. The way the UAE and Qatar have developed football over the past two decades reflects that.
Risk
However, spending money to bring in famous stars also contains many risks. When the Saudi Arabia U17 team lost 0-2 to Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals of the 2023 AFC U17 Championship in Thailand, there were concerns about the next development path for the above-mentioned young players. The appearance of Benzema, Ronaldo, Kante or Koulibaly in the SPL means that young Saudi Arabian players will have fewer opportunities to play.
Saudi Arabia U17 had an unfortunate loss to Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals of the 2023 AFC U17 Championship in Thailand.
The Saudi Arabia U23 squad that won the 2022 AFC U23 Championship are the ones who know this best. Less than 30% of the Saudi U23 players who won the AFC U23 Championship last year were regular starters at top SPL clubs. Playing abroad could be a solution, but for the majority of Saudi players, they choose to stay in the country. Only one Saudi player from last year's AFC U23 Championship is playing abroad, Abdulaziz Idris, who plays for NK Uljanik Pula (Croatia).
The SPL allows clubs to register and use up to 7 foreign players on the field, so the opportunities for young players to play are very limited. For top and ambitious teams like Al Hilal or Al Nassr, the playing time for young talents is even less. That is the problem that Saudi Arabian football people have to solve.
" I'm not worried about players leaving Europe for the SPL. Is that a problem for them (Saudi Arabia)? Because they should invest in academies, find top coaches and they should develop their own players, " UEFA President Ceferin said in the middle of this month. " Buying players who are almost at the end of their careers is not the right way to develop football. The same mistake happened in China before ."
Of course, Saudi Arabian football is only taking its first steps on the road to its ambitions. There are many reasons to believe that Saudi Arabian football will be more successful than what the Chinese have done.
(Source: Zing News)
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