After Cristiano Ronaldo in January, the Saudi Arabian championship - Saudi Pro League - is witnessing a wave of superstars moving from Europe.
In 2023, two former Ballon d'Or winners - Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema - will both play in Saudi Arabia with a record annual salary of $200 million. Former Chelsea World Cup and Champions League winner N'Golo Kante also made his debut at Al-Ittihad on June 21, with a seasonal salary of $100 million. But that's just the beginning, as many Chelsea players such as Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech ... are also preparing to complete their move to the Saudi Pro League. Other big names such as Sergio Ramos, Bernardo Silva and Son Heung-min are receiving lucrative offers from the Arab country.
Why is Saudi Arabia suddenly spending so much money on foreign players? According to Sky Sports (UK), first of all, Saudi Arabia is looking to expand its economy through other industries to help secure its financial future. The country is dependent on oil sales - which will not last forever, and they need to diversify their economy. And Saudi Arabia is doing this through PIF - the country's Public Investment Fund.
With Ronaldo and Benzema, the Saudi Pro League is taking the first steps in building one of the most attractive national championships on the planet. Photo: Goal
Sports is one area in particular that Saudi Arabia is looking to develop domestically, including the Saudi Pro League. The Middle Eastern country wants to build its own entertainment industry, and tap into the huge interest in football among Saudis, 70% of whom are under 40.
Football is a popular sport in Saudi Arabia, and they are the best-supported team at the 2022 World Cup. Saudi Arabia made a splash in the tournament by beating eventual champions Argentina in their opening match, and saw this as a way to boost tourism .
The Saudi authorities saw all this interest and thought, “Instead of others making money from the Saudi people’s passion for sports, let’s make money ourselves and keep it within our borders.” They wanted to put Saudi football on the world map and raise its profile.
What else does Saudi Arabia hope to achieve? Amnesty International has accused Saudi Arabia of “using sports to mask its dismal human rights record.” Human Rights Watch says that “Saudi Arabia spends billions of dollars on major entertainment, cultural and sporting events to deflect attention from the country’s dire human rights record.”
Human Rights Watch's 2022 report concluded that Saudi Arabia has announced some reforms, but "ongoing repression and disregard for basic rights remain major barriers to progress."
A UN investigation into the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi said his death "constituted an extrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia must be held accountable".
In addition to being used to clean up human rights scandals, investing in football can also buy influence and prestige around the world and demonstrate soft power. Saudi Arabia is said to be in the running to host the 2030 World Cup, along with Greece and Egypt.
Is this a long-term goal for Saudi Arabia? What is happening in the Saudi Pro League is reminiscent of the birth of the Chinese Super League in China in 2004, when Brazilian star Oscar and West Ham’s Marko Arnautovic suddenly moved to Asia. This was a direct order from President Xi Jinping, who wanted China to host the World Cup, have a good national team and a strong domestic league.
But then China changed its mind, not liking the huge amount of money flowing from the country to European clubs, they decided to put an end to this, and set up a myriad of rules to control the number of foreign players allowed to play in the Chinese Super League.
According to Sky Sports , Saudi Arabia is also aiming for the long term, but the country has more money and a more serious feel to it. This is the beginning of a process and not something that will disappear quickly.
The brightest stars today like Kane or Haaland could also be targeted by the Saudi Pro League. Photo: AFP
According to the British news agency, in the next five years, Saudi Arabia wants to have 100 of the best foreign players playing in the Saudi Pro League. Ronaldo is the first, and they have offered Lionel Messi a record annual salary of $400 million. But the Argentine star refused to move to MLS. This does not stop Saudi Arabia's ambitions, when Ruben Neves is about to join Al Hilal, and three Chelsea players, including Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy, are preparing to complete their move to Saudi Arabia. In the future, Harry Kane, or even Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe can also be in the sights of Saudi Arabia's football ambitions.
Mohammed Hamdi, a football expert in the Middle East and former director of Al Jazira FC in Abu Dhabi, told Sky Sports News he believes Saudi Arabia will have no problem attracting top talent.
"They have the infrastructure," he said. "They have the country behind them, they can host a World Cup. We saw how great the World Cup was in Qatar. This is a long-term vision, where you can attract TV deals, media, sponsorship and more tourism to the country. Not just the older players, you might see young players ready to play in the Saudi Pro League."
Has Saudi Arabia distorted the transfer market? This summer, almost every transfer deal has been linked to Saudi Arabian clubs, even seemingly untouchable names like Son Heung-min at Tottenham. Saudi Arabia has enough money to sign any player it wants, as long as he wants to leave.
Ruben Neves is the most obvious example. The Portuguese midfielder is only 26 years old, at the peak of his career, and has attracted interest from Liverpool, Barca, and Man Utd, but decided to join Al Hilal with a salary 10 times higher than his income at Wolves.
"So the transfer market has changed dramatically, with clubs facing serious competition from Saudi Arabia - a very lucrative market has opened up," Sky Sports commented.
Ruben Neves in a Wolves shirt in the Premier League last season. Photo: AFP
Chelsea are under pressure to recoup their losses through player sales by the end of this month after spending $668 million on two transfer windows in 2022-23, in the first year of ownership by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital . Chelsea's sales completed before June 30 will be included in the first full tax year, helping to reduce losses to help with FFP compliance.
PIF, which owns four Saudi Arabian clubs, is looking to buy Chelsea players, having invested in Clearlake Capital, a private equity fund that is a major shareholder in Chelsea. In addition, Chelsea chairman Boehly was spotted meeting Al Hilal chairman Fahd bin Nafel in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. Also at the meeting was Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, an Al Hilal fan who sold a minority stake in his investment company to PIF last year.
But according to Sky Sports , the Saudi Arabian clubs' interest in buying Chelsea players has nothing to do with the club's need to recoup capital to "ease" FFP requirements. PIF invests in many private equity funds around the world, and Clearlake has invested in 400 different companies. Chelsea also confirmed that there was absolutely no conflict of interest in this.
Hong Duy (according to Sky Sports )
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