football
The new season of the Saudi Professional League begins on Friday, but never before has the football championship in Saudi Arabia been as much in the international spotlight as it is this year. She owes that to the almost unlimited spending spree of the Saudi royal family, who already have Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane and Steven Gerrard on the bill.
11.08.2023 14.11
Online since today, 2:11 p.m
For critics, the stars are the willing henchmen of a large-scale image campaign. With endless financial resources and prominent names, Saudi Arabia aims to become one of the biggest players in the sports scene. According to estimates by the human rights organization Grant Liberty, the strictly conservative-governed kingdom has already poured out 1.5 billion dollars (about 1.3 billion euros).
In football, superstar Ronaldo started after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. With his move to al-Nassr, the 38-year-old Portuguese drew the fans’ attention to Saudi Arabia for the first time. He is said to earn around 200 million euros a year for his services – a princely compensation for the kick at temperatures of up to 50 degrees. Ex-Salzburg Mane, Marcelo Brozovic and Seko Fofana also play at the club in Riyadh.
Reuters The Pro League starts its new season, the number of stars has grown this summer
Local rival al-Hilal, who has made two offers to Paris Saint-Germain, wants to go even further. Karim Mbappe’s commitment for a transfer fee of rumored 300 million euros would go beyond all previously known dimensions. If that works, it would be a big surprise, the 24-year-old striker doesn’t seem to be interested. They also fish for Marco Verratti. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Kalidou Koulibaly and Ruben Neves are already under contract with al-Hilal. The focus recently: Portugal’s Joao Felix (23), who is due to leave Atletico Madrid after his Chelsea loan and is very popular with his compatriot Jorge Jesus.
Stars and starlets came in the summer
The transfer window in Saudi Arabia is open until September 20th, which is longer than in many countries in Europe. “FIFA has to come up with something,” said star coach Jürgen Klopp recently. Speaking of Liverpool: The presence of former “Reds” greats in the Pro League is amazing. Ex-captain Jordan Henderson teamed up with Gerrard, who coaches at al-Ettifaq. The Brazilian Fabinho switched to al-Ittihad last week, where the French Benzema and Kante have settled.
Reuters Matthias Jaissle switched from series champion Salzburg to the Saudi desert in the summer
In Austria, the abrupt change from ex-Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle to al-Ahli caused a stir. With the promoted team, he meets another ex-Liverpool player in Brazilian Roberto Firmino. Riyad Mahrez joined from Champions League winners Manchester City. In the worldwide spending ranking, the Saudi upper house is already on par with the German Bundesliga with around 450 million euros – and well ahead of the Spanish LaLiga (300 million).
Pro League has ambitious goals
Al-Nassr, al-Hilal, al-Ittihad and al-Ahli are mostly supplied with money and controlled by the royal family via the Public Investment Fund (PIF/estimated reserves: 650 billion dollars) established in 1971. Other clubs were placed under the supervision of government agencies. A specific goal is to build the Saudi Professional League into one of the ten largest leagues in the world in order to be able to benefit from it economically. The ambitious plan: By 2030, the PIF should have risen to become the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. Should that happen, the exodus of stars from Europe to the desert will soon be the norm.