Mohammed bin Salman's Big Ambition for Saudi Arabian Football
Through the "Public Investment Fund", Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pursuing big ambitions in the realm of football. World stars were brought in by the Saudi League in pursuit of the prestige and quality of the European leagues.
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The photo released by the Saudi Arabian League shows French footballer Karim Benzema posing with two representatives from the Saudi Arabian club, Al-Ittihad in Madrid, Spain on Tuesday (6/6/2023). Benzema has officially joined Al-Ittihad as a player for three years.
The Government of Saudi Arabia made a big move through the Public Investment Fund (Public Investment Fund/PIF) to "monopolize" the Saudi League, the Middle East country's highest caste competition. After taking over ownership of the English club, Newcastle United, in October 2021, PIF has declared itself the ruler of four Saudi clubs, namely Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli.
Four clubs with the best historical and achievement records in Saudi Arabia are now under the same parent company. PIF, controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), owns 75 percent of the shares of the four clubs and then hands over 25 percent of the remaining shares to each club's nonprofit foundation. In the near future, PIF will announce the name of the subsidiary responsible for handling the four clubs.
As part of today's announcement of the Sport Clubs Investment and the Privatization Project, four Saudi clubs; Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal, have been transformed into companies owned by PIF and their respective club's non-profit foundations.
“As part of today's announcement of the Sport Clubs Investment and the Privatization Project, four Saudi clubs; Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal, have been transformed into companies owned by PIF and their respective club's non-profit foundations," said PIF's official statement, Tuesday (6/6/2023), reported by The Saudi Press Agencies.
The four teams represent the two most successful cities in the history of Saudi Arabia. Al-Ittihad, the ruler of the Saudi League 2022-2023, comes from Jeddah along with Al Ahli. Al-Ittihad has collected nine championship trophies, while Al-Ahli has three domestic league championship titles.
Also read: Ronaldo's Global Influence Benefits Saudi Arabia and Al-Nassr
The photo released by the Saudi Arabian League shows French footballer Karim Benzema posing while holding the jersey of Saudi Arabian club, Al-Ittihad, flanked by two representatives of Al-Ittihad in Madrid, Spain, on Tuesday (6/6/2023). Benzema has officially joined as a player for Al-Ittihad for three years.
Meanwhile, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr are cross-town rivals based in the largest city in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. Al-Hilal has won the Saudi League title 18 times, while Al-Nassr, which is reinforced by Cristiano Ronaldo, has already become Saudi champions eight times.
Taking ownership by PIF is not difficult for all four clubs. This is because they have been formed and managed by the Saudi Royal family since the beginning.
PIF has added that the ownership of the four best local clubs is to open up greater investment and partnership opportunities. The most important thing is that, after being acquired by PIF, the four clubs have unlimited funds to recruit the world's best players. To develop these four clubs and the Saudi League, PIF has allocated up to $3 billion USD (Rp 44.6 trillion) per year.
PIF is determined to provide a fair share to the four clubs to recruit at least three world-class stars for the 2023-2024 season. The three stars consist of one Class A star with a contract value of over 200 million euros or around Rp 3.17 trillion per season, then two other stars have a maximum contract limit of 100 million euros (1.58 trillion) per year.
Also read: Joining Al-Nassr, Ronaldo Conquered Reality
Supporters watched the Saudi Arabian League match between Al-Nassr and Al-Fateh at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday (31/5/2023).
After Al-Nassr enjoyed popularity and became the most famous team in Asia in the realm of social media, Al-Ittihad officially announced the transfer of Karim Benzema on Wednesday (7/6) early in the morning Western Indonesia Time. The French striker moved to Saudi Arabia holding the status as a Ballon d'Or winner.
"I can't wait to join my new team-mates and help them to bring this great club to new heights and lift Saudi Arabian football to a new level," said Benzema, who signed a contract until 30 June 2026, as quoted by the Saudi Gazette.
Benzema will assist Al-Ittihad in pursuing two international titles, namely the AFC Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup. In addition, according to President of Al-Ittihad Al-Hailae, Benzema is an addition to coach Nuno Espirito Santo's squad to defend the Saudi League trophy next season.
“Karim (Benzema) is a global icon. He was box officeand still at his best. He joined a very competitive league and came to a country that has big ambitions in football both on and off the field," said Al-Hailae.
Also read: Cristiano Ronaldo, Ambassador of Big Dreams of Saudi Arabia
Supporters witnessed the Saudi Arabian League match between Al-Nassr and Al-Fateh at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday (31/5/2023). The club Al-Nassr was strengthened by the football megastar Cristiano Ronaldo.
In addition to the former two stars of Real Madrid, Al-Hilal - a powerhouse in the Asian Champions League with four titles - is also still awaiting confirmation from Lionel Messi regarding a mega-contract offer to join Saudi. Messi was offered a contract of nearly 1 billion euros (IDR 15.8 trillion) for two seasons, which is no small sum.
If he accepts the contract, Messi will become the player with the biggest contract in football history. By joining Al-Hilal, Messi will receive more than 1.5 billion euros (Rp. 23.8 trillion) in the next two years from the Saudi government. This year, he was recruited as the Saudi Tourism Ambassador.
Not only the three Ballon d'Or winners, but the four clubs are also exploring the recruitment of several famous players from three top European leagues, such as the English League, the Spanish League, and the Italian League. Some players who are currently negotiating with Saudi clubs are Sergio Busquets, Wilfried Zaha, N'Golo Kante, Iago Aspas, Adama Traore, Hugo Lloris, Alexis Sanchez, and Roberto Firmino.
Cristiano Ronaldo's advice
Recruiting top European players seems to be Saudi League's way of fulfilling Ronaldo's suggestion. After spending the second half of the season with Al-Nassr, "CR7" acknowledged that Saudi has the potential to become one of the best football competitions in the world. Without hesitation, the Portuguese legend mentioned that Saudi could be among the top five best leagues.
Also read: Ronaldo Sets a Sign of Domination in Saudi Arabia
Al-Nassr player, Cristiano Ronaldo, celebrated after scoring a goal in the Saudi Arabian League match between Al-Nassr and Al-Shabab at Al-Awwal Park Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday (23/5/2023).
However, to achieve that, according to Ronaldo, many things need to be done by Saudi Arabia. One of them is to improve the quality of the league by bringing in top players from around the world.
“If big-name players come, they will be very welcome here. If that happens, the league will certainly grow even more,” said Ronaldo as quoted by SSC Channel, at the end of last May.
Based on the 2023 Asian Football Confederation coefficients, the Saudi League is on top of beating the Japanese League, South Korean League and Iran League. However, based on the world league ranking through computer calculations based on the quality of teams and players conducted by TeamForm, the Saudi League is ranked 68th.
The massive investment made by PIF is aimed at boosting the quality of the Saudi League on the field. In addition to top players, they have also recruited the world's best referees, such as Michael Oliver (England) and Daniele Orsato (Italy). Both of them will officiate one match for Al-Nassr in the second half of the 2022-2023 season.
Read also: Moving to Saudi Arabia, Did Messi Close Career with Failure?
Photo archive of May 23, 2023, showing the Saudi Arabian League match between Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Football star Karim Benzema has officially become a player of Al-Ittihad for three years.
In addition, the world's best coaches are also being explored by PIF to manage their teams. Only Al-Ittihad is the only one of the four teams belonging to PIF that has retained last season's tactician, namely Espirito Santo, to go on an adventure in the 2023-2024 season. Arab News says Zinedine Zidane is one of the candidates on Al-Nassr's wanted list.
With that condition, PIF hopes that the Saudi League can maintain its dominant face in the Asian Champions League. Then, slowly but surely, the Saudi League is moving up in class to enter the list of the top 10 competitions in the world.
Not only PIF, several state-owned companies in Saudi Arabia also own their respective professional clubs in the second and third tier of the Saudi leagues. Aramco, a Saudi oil and gas company, has taken control of the Al-Qadsia club, while the Diriyah Gate Development Authority owns Al-Diriyah, the Royal Commission for Al-Ula Governorate has formed the Al-Ula club, and Neon, a Saudi smart city planning company, has taken control of Al-Suqoor.
Not a utopia
Unlike China, which experienced a failed project when bringing in European players in 2016-2017, full government support makes the great ambition of the Saudi league not just a utopian dream. The ownership of Newcastle United in England is also another way for PIF to expand its influence in the world in order to boost the popularity of football in their country.
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Golfers were practicing at the driving range ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational Series tournament at The Centurion Club in St Albans, London, on June 7, 2022. On Tuesday (5/6/2023), two prestigious golf competitions, namely the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, announced that they have joined forces under the banner of LIV Golf, which is funded by Saudi Arabia.
Football is one of the ways that Saudi Arabia establishes their soft power in the world, as stated in Vision 2030. With the presence of star players, MBS not only hopes that stadiums will always be filled with passionate Saudi football supporters, but also revives a sports spirit for the young Saudi generation.
Do not forget, PIF's big ambition in the golf world has led to the formation of a leading and legendary golf competition in the world, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, finally agreeing to form a new entity together with LIV Golf, which has been formed by PIF since 2021. With the joint agreement to unite, on Monday (5/6/2023), golf will have a new competition under the full control of PIF starting in the second half of this year.
Taking inspiration from golf, PIF will do fantastic and populist things to enhance the reputation of the Saudi League. It is not impossible that within the next two or three years, Saudi clubs will dare to compete in price bids with European teams in the summer transfer market.
“Bin Salman wants to defeat the prosperity and influence of Qatar and Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). Taking assets, especially cultural assets, is a way for the Saudis to strengthen Saudi soft power influence in the world,” Christopher Davidson, a Middle East expert, told The Athletic. (AFP/REUTERS)
