Recent data shows that Saudi Arabia, a country that traditionally stays away from sports and other financial adventures, is now investing heavily in to the sport of football. From 2020 and beyond, Saudi Arabia will be hosting a slew of tournaments from the Spanish Super Copa to the World Cup as well as bringing in players from all backgrounds to their domestic league.
Saudi Arabia has invested $5+ Billion dollars since 2020. Compared to their sports investment profile leading up to 2020, it’s a considerable jump. These investments can range in importance and category, and we’ll take a look into individual cases and what they could mean for the future of football.
Qatar 2022, as FIFA President Gianni Infantino said himself,
was, simply, the best [FIFA] World Cup ever. And this particular
[FIFA] World Cup, we had five billion viewers from home, we had
three-and-a-half million, almost, spectators in the stadiums.
One-and-a-half million came from all over the world in a joyful
atmosphere.
World Cups, as well as FIFA-sanctioned tournaments, have the ability to connect with players and fans across the globe. With the last world cup that was held by Qatar, players traveled to the middle east for the first time for the world’s largest tournament. Interestingly enough, we will see players return there to represent their countries as soon as 2034 as Saudi Arabia has officially won the bid after being uncontested. It will mark 12 years since the previous time the tournament was played in the middle east, but it will soon come just like other tournaments Saudi Arabia has invested into hosting. For example, and in recent years, Saudi Arabia has hosted the Club World Cup, a competition that traditionally featured only a handful of clubs. That format will now be changed to feature 32 teams, with 4 from Asia (including one of Saudi Arabia’s own, Al Hilal). They have also hosted the AFC Champions League, AFC’s highest club-level competition and a tournament that Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal has won the most out of any other club. Both competitions will bring fans and clubs alike from all across Europe and Asia to Saudi Arabia, a significant opportunity for showcasing the country.
Monetary input from Saudi Arabia is not just limited to purchasing tournaments, it also includes sponsorships for each tournament and team. Saudi Arabian Football is very organized in this regard, as each club has a solid foundation of sponsors to pull from. Sponsorships are critical to the running of any tournament and competition, or even club and fortunately for Saudi Arabia, there will be plenty of sponsors. 84 individual sponsors are backing clubs and tournaments hosted by the country, providing a backbone.
The Saudi PIF’s purchase of Newcastle United was not the first
case of a foreign government purchasing an English Football Club, or any
Football Club for that matter. Clubs such as PSG and Manchester City had
been both purchased and ran in part by foreign governments (Qatar and
United Arab Emirates respectively) before Newcastle United was bought by
Saudi Arabia, yet it has stirred its fair share of controversy. The
Saudi takeover of Newcastle United was a fairly swift takeover, and it
marks a remarkable change from a local club to a Champions League
Contender. Yet, things didn’t go as smoothly for fans of opposing
teams when compared to how smoothly the takeover itself went. Instead, a
lot of fans took to social media to discuss the prospect of the takeover
being an act of sportswashing
, a concept new to football as more
foreign governments invest. Like Manchester City, the new investment has
brought in new talent that will make fans and club supporters within the
Premier League jealous, but is the criticism fair? Professor Youmans of
George Washington University seems to think this type of investment
creates big clubs, and separates them from competition - making
competition harder for smaller clubs.
You know, it creates an artificial economy when you can have clubs
spending money that they’re essentially not making. So a lot
of fans focus on that and they can can spend billions of dollars on
buying players and then somehow avoid financial fair play violations
or penalties because they hire the top law firms to represent them.
And then the smaller clubs like Everton and Nottingham Forest face
the penalties for financial fair play. And so this is kind of that
artificial economy that gets created through these deep pocketed
purchasers. You know, same thing with Chelsea. Chelsea had a bit
more history but really when Abramovich bought them and poured money
into it that’s, that’s when it, you know, became a major
club.
Newcastle, like Manchester City as well as PSG, may continue to come under fire as it holds a significant financial advantage over clubs that are owned either by fans or less fortunate owners. Manchester City, despite its investment, is under fire for breaching Financial Fair Play rules a record 115 times but little action has been taken in this regard, while Nottingham Forest and Everton have been docked points, putting them even closer to league relegation. The purchase of Newcastle United has also allowed the club to tap further into Saudi sponsors such as Sela, a Saudi Arabian company that is now the front sponsor for Newcastle’s home kit. This provides funds for Newcastle to bring in the very best players in Europe and abroad, as well as easy loan spells with other Saudi-owned clubs.
Players from different leagues across the world have suddenly left their domestic leagues in order to pursue football in Saudi Arabia. For football fans, it should be a somewhat familiar story as this is not the first-time players have left for a league far away. Fans can think of the Chinese Super League or attempts by European clubs to lure South American players to the continent, a tactic that has worked historically. Yet, the middle east is, for the most part, a completely new location with tournaments only recently being held in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Let’s take a look at who is leaving and what their profiles look like:
The first set of players specifically come from Europe’s Top 5 leagues (i.e. English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and French Ligue 1), which are highly competitive in terms of both game and salary. So it begs the question, why might these players leave? Players will always have their reasons for making decisions, and with football players many of them have teams that make decisions or delegate on their behalf. Though this is true, fans and experts alike will always have their own opinions. One sports journalist, Professor Kelsey Nelson of the George Washington University, takes a critical look at why players may be leaving.
So, Brittney Griner is a perfect example. You see what she was
making in the WNBA. It’s a common feat for many WNBA players
that have to go play overseas. She’s married, right? She has a
family that she’s supporting. So I think that’s top of
mind and important. I think it’s easy to look at athletes too,
and say, oh well, what about their values? Or, you know, why are
they really going over there? I think the athletes won. I think
they’ve always had to be flexible. Many athletes travel a lot.
They’ve been around different cultures, probably around the
most cultures they’ve ever been in their life because of
sports, and they’re introduced to it.
Players often have to choose the cultures that they want to be around, including cultures of winning and rich culture. One of the many reasons players go to the top 5 European leagues is because of the level of competition associated with these leagues, but it can mean adjusting to whatever the vibe of the city is. Players need to adopt languages, traditions, and even sometimes opinions as it is true to the city as much as it is to the club. With players going to Saudi Arabia, this will all apply but also Saudi Arabia is a completely new playing field for both players and the sport. With more players coming in, the league will become more competitive and bring in more interest. For some players who are older, it may even be a relaxing step-away from Europe’s sometimes brutal playing schedules with the mix of domestic and international tournaments. Players will have their own reasons for leaving, but these could be some of them.
Saudi Arabia is just one of the many countries investing heavily in the sport of international football. It can prove invaluable to the future of the sport as markets evolve and teams require more funding for the overinflation of player values. With this investment comes a bright future with diverse scenes and new venues for the sport’s biggest tournaments. It may leave many excited and could bring in fans, new and old, together like never before.