Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began outlining his nation’s socio-economic blueprint “Vision 2030” with the faux-inspirational line: “All success stories start with a vision.”
For Saudi Arabia, what was once a vision has become an inexorable schedule of growth across 13 sectors – sport being one – with the ultimate aim of massively inflating the Gulf nation’s global position. As golf discovered, this has all been meticulously planned, now it’s being ruthlessly actioned.
For football, the next stage is the so-called privatisation of the Saudi Pro League. All 16 teams were owned by the Saudi royal family until earlier this week. Eight are now owned by subsidiary companies of the royal family, with eight more available to the highest bidder.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the nation’s sovereign wealth fund which also owns Newcastle United, have taken control of the nation’s four largest teams – Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, Asia’s most decorated team Al-Hilal, Karim Benzema’s new side Al-Ittihad and fallen giant Al-Ahli. PIF will own 75 per cent of these clubs, with 25 per cent owned by a non-profit organisation.
These four clubs are understood to be targeting three marquee players each – players of Ronaldo and Benzema’s calibre. The other 12 teams are expected to share eight more, with their eight-man foreign player allowances made up of lower-quality European and South American players.
Four clubs have been taken over by significant Saudi companies. Aramco, the state’s oil institution, already a key sponsor of Formula 1 and cricket, have purchased Al-Qadsia, the team based in Saudi Arabia’s oil-producing region. Neom, the company tasked with building a “smart city” from scratch in the nation’s north west, have bought the club closest to their site. As with everything else, this has been meticulously thought through.
The other eight teams are open for investment, with plans for the sales to be completed by the end of 2023. The largest of these, Al-Shabab, are rumoured to be the subject of a bid by Qatar’s sovereign fund, with a bid from the United Arab Emirates also on the table.
The reasons for this privatisation are multifaceted. Saudi Arabia are keen to reduce their economic dependence on oil and tap into a global sporting market valued at $750bn. The line pushed hardest by the Saudis is their perceived public health crisis, with high rates of diabetes, heart disease and strokes linked to over 60 per cent of the population being either overweight or obese.
Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School, told i: “As much as anything, it’s about the personal security of Mohammed bin Salman and his family, fear of a second Arab Spring. Seventy per cent of Saudi Arabia’s population is aged under 35. They’ve been brought up on Snapchat, Netflix, Real Madrid, Gucci and want to live their lives in a way they haven’t been able to.
“There is this new implied social contract in Saudi Arabia, driven by Bin Salman, which is ‘Whatever you want, you can have it – but don’t question us.’ There has been a marked increase in people arrested for posting negative comments about Saudi Arabia this year.”
The Saudi Pro League has publicly stated its aims to triple its market value to become one of the top 10 leagues globally, with two teams in the top 20 of Deloitte’s annual Money League.
While comparisons to China and its failing Super League are easily made, they are largely misplaced. A minority sport in China, football has been Saudi Arabia’s leading sport for decades.
Its domestic game has a pre-established, passionate following – the Riyadh derby between Al-Hilal and Al Nassr regularly draws crowds as large as the Manchester or north London derbies. The smallest of the PIF’s four sides, Al-Ahli, still has more Twitter followers than half the Premier League. Alongside this, Saudi Arabia have qualified for six of the past eight World Cups, beating eventual champions Argentina in 2022.
Yet Chadwick warns: “Saudi Arabia must be very careful not to acquire the reputation not only China got, but the US had in the 1970s – that it’s a retirement home for ageing professionals. Its domestic stars are also important.”
However, more veteran stars are expected to follow Ronaldo and Benzema. N’Golo Kante is reportedly close to a £100m per year deal to join his compatriot at Al-Ittihad, while Wilfried Zaha, Hugo Lloris, Alexis Sanchez and Roberto Firmino are all linked. More players in world football are likely to be linked with the Pro League in the coming years as agents abuse the Saudi reputation to inflate prices for their clientele.
Saudi Arabia is willing and able to pay prices European clubs simply can’t. As Asian football expert Martin Lowe tells i: “FFP isn’t a thing in the Asian Football Championship and regulation won’t come, especially in the short term.
“The AFC will be quite happy money’s being spent and there’s more eyeballs on Asian football.”
The four PIF-owned clubs will each have new stadia built – larger, more modern “entertainment venues” capable of hosting major events. Saudi Arabia has already won the right to host the 2027 Asian Cup and are bidding for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. A potential bid for the 2030 or 2034 men’s World Cup has also been widely reported as in the works. Chadwick is certain that if and when Saudi Arabia formally bids, it will win.
Another significant driver is the expanded 2025 Club World Cup, with Al-Hilal’s involvement already confirmed. Sustained competition against European sides is viewed as a key indicator to legitimise progress.
The immediate next step is buying franchise clubs to support Newcastle, with at least one purchase expected to come this summer. Longer-term ambitions include either buying or creating an entire European league.
While many consider the European Super League idea to have been defeated, Chadwick is sceptical: “Discount nothing, anything is possible, because Saudi Arabia’s got the money, it’s got the strategic intent, it’s got the vision. What we know about football, sport, life in general – money talks.
“There is considerable speculation in the sector that Saudi Arabia will either seek to buy a competition, or they’ll set up their own competition, maybe a Champions League of Champions Leagues, their own Super League.
“If they can ensure everyone gets richer, that’s how they spin it. When the pitch eventually comes, it will be for the ‘greater good’ – that’s how LIV/PGA is now being spun, that it’s in everybody’s best interests. But make no mistake, it’s about Saudi Arabia and the royal family, about the position of their country and looking after their people, not ours.”
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