Discover the tournament and teams in Neymar’s new league – 08/15/2023 – Sport

The Qatari royal family has injected billions of dollars into improving its international image through football. Hosted the World Cup, hosted the Club World Cup and other international events.

Rival of the Qataris in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia also wants to use sport as geopolitics. The tool is money. But there is a difference. The country invested in signing famous players around the world for the local league. The best known of them already in the descending phase of their career.

The exception may be the Brazilian Neymar, 31, confirmed this Tuesday (15) as a reinforcement for Al Hilal. He goes to the Middle East still of age to maintain a high level performance.

The Saudi league, with 18 teams in the first division, started on Friday last week (11) and never before has a national championship in the region aroused so much international interest.

Neymar arrives for the most popular and winning local team. Al Hilal have won the title 18 times and are part of the league’s top four teams alongside Al Ittihad, Al Ahli and Al Nassr.

Reinforced last season by Cristiano Ronaldo, 38, owner of the highest salary in world football, the tournament also gained the presence of the French Karim Benzema, 35, and N’Golo Kanté; 32; Brazilians Fabinho, 29, and Malcom, 26; the Senegalese Koulibaly, 32; Englishman Jordan Henderson, 33; Argentine Éver Banega, 35; and Algerian Riyad Mahrez, 32, among others.

In Brazil, TV broadcasting rights belong to Band and Bandsports. Some games will also be available on the Goat YouTube channel.

Cristiano Ronaldo, five times voted best in the world, led the way by signing with Al Nassr in 2022 to receive around US$ 200 million per season (R$ 998 million at current quotations). He was followed by Karim Benzema at Al Ittihad ($190 million per season or R$948 million).

Even lesser-known athletes received offers they couldn’t get anywhere else. Henderson will pocket 42 million euros (R$ 229 million) in a year at Al Ettifaq, which is not among the main Saudi teams.

Neymar found a market in none of the big clubs in Europe. His dream of returning to Barcelona did not come true. Saudi Arabia offered him 320 million euros (R$ 1.7 billion) for the two-year contract.

The clash between Al Hilal and Al Nassr, which should put the Brazilian and Cristiano Ronaldo face to face, should take place in the 15th round. The likely date for departure is November 30th.

As in Qatar, the Saudi league’s economic expansion is part of a larger plan. The idea is to diversify the country’s economy and also make it known for a positive and popular aspect such as football.

“There’s the fact that Saudi Arabia wants to be recognized for things other than oil, religious extremism and a past where women couldn’t drive. That is, of course, part of what brings us to Saudi investment in sports. it’s also part of something bigger, a plan that’s outlined in Vision 2030,” writes Steven A. Cook, scholar of Middle East and African affairs for the Council on Foreign Relations.

Vision 2030 is a document that details what the royal family intends to do to diversify the economy and rely less on oil and natural gas extraction. It involves the construction of Neom, a city that the Saudi government calls “futuristic”, being built in the middle of the desert at an estimated cost of US$ 500 billion (R$ 2.5 trillion).

Again, it is a plan similar to that carried out by Qatar, which also gave life, in the middle of nowhere, to a new city: Lusail. Saudi Arabia is one of the candidates to host the 2030 World Cup.

The criticism is that football has once again become a tool for “sporstwashing”, the use of sport as a geopolitical weapon. Saudi Arabia had already been accused of this when a company linked to the royal family bought Newcastle United, from England. The same was directed at the United Arab Emirates, owners of the now European champion Manchester City, and Qatar, controller of Paris Saint-Germain.

Football in Saudi Arabia is going to undergo a privatization process in the coming years But, before that, the main clubs were nationalized.

The country’s sovereign wealth fund, controlled by the royal family, has taken control of the four most popular teams: Al Nassr, Al Ittihad, Al Ahli and Al Hilal. The investment entity will use the same strategy employed in other sectors of the economy. The State will command the associations and then put them up for sale to companies and development agencies.

Money is not lacking. The Public Investment Fund, the official name of the sovereign fund under the administration of the monarchy, is worth US$ 620 billion (R$ 3 trillion). It is the fifth largest on the planet.

The purpose is to increase the revenue of the professional league and take it to US$ 480 million (R$ 2.3 billion) in 2030. Currently, it is at US$ 120 million (R$ 573 million). The market value of the tournament, projected, is US$ 2.1 billion (R$ 10 billion).

See below the teams that make up the Saudi first division league:

Abha
City: Abha
Foundation: 1966
League titles: 0
Main player: Devis Epassy, ​​Cameroon
Biggest signings: Krychowiak (midfielder, Krasnodar-RUS), Kamano (midfielder, Lokomotiv Moscow-RUS), Fabian Noguera (defender, Nacional-URU)
Coach: Czeslaw Michniewicz, Poland

Al Ahli Saudi
City: Jeddah
Foundation: 1937
League titles: 3
Main player: Mahrez, Algeria
Biggest signings: Mahrez (midfielder, Manchester City-ING), Ibañez (defender, Roma-ITA), Saint-Maximin (forward, Newcastle-ING), Mendy (goalkeeper, Chelsea-ING)
Coach: Matthias Jaissle, Netherlands

Al Akhdoud
City: Najran
Foundation: 1976
League titles: 0
Main player: Andrei Burca, Romania
Biggest signings: Andrei Burca (defender, Cluj-ROM), Florin Tanase (midfielder, Al Jazira-UAE)
Coach: Jorge Mendonça, Portugal

Al ettifaq
City: Damman
Foundation: 1945
League titles: 2
Main player: Jordan Henderson, England
Biggest signings: Jordan Henderson (midfielder, Liverpool-ING), Jack Hendry (midfielder, Brugge-BEL), Moussa Dembelé (forward, Lyon-FRA)
Coach: Steven Gerrard, England

Al Fateh
City: Al Mubarraz
Foundation: 1958
League titles: 1
Lead Player: Cristian Tello, Spain
Biggest signings: Zelarayán (midfielder, Columbus-USA), Jason Denayer (defender, Shabab Ah Ahli-UAE)
Coach: Slaven Bilic, Croatia

Al Feiha
City: Al Majma’ah
Foundation: 1953
League titles: 0
Main player: Fashion Sakala, Zambia
Biggest signings: Fashion Sakala (forward, Rangers-ESC), Onyekuru (midfielder, Adana Demirspor-TUR), Gojko Cimirot (midfielder, Standard Liége-BEL)
Coach: Vuk Rasovic, Serbia

Al Hazm
City: Ar Rass
Foundation: 1957
League titles: 0
Main player: Vina, Brazil
Main signings: Vina (midfielder, Ceará), Tozé (midfielder, Al Nasr-UAE), Selemani (midfielder, Kortrijk-BEL)
Coach: Filipe Gouveia, Portugal

Al Hilal
City: Riyadh
Foundation: 1957
League titles: 18
Main player: Neymar, Brazil
Biggest signings: Neymar (forward, PSG-FRA), Malcom (forward, Zenit-RUS), Ruben Neves (midfielder, Wolverhampton-ING), Milinkovic-Savic (midfielder, Lazio-ITA), Koulibaly (defender, Chelsea-ING)
Manager: Jorge Jesus, Portugal

Al Ittihad
City: Jeddah
Foundation: 1927
League titles: 9
Main player: Karim Benzema, France
Biggest signings: Benzema (forward, Real Madrid-ESP) Fabinho (midfielder, Liverpool-ING), Kanté (midfielder, Chelsea-ING)
Coach: Nuno Espirito Santo, Portugal

Al Khaleej
City: Saihat
Foundation: 1945
League titles: 0
Main player: Fabio Martins, Portugal
Biggest contractions: Lisandro López (defender, Tijuana-MEX), Ivo Rodrigues (midfielder, Famalicão-POR)
Manager: Pedro Emanuel, Portugal

Al Nassr
City: Riyadh
Foundation: 1955
League titles: 9
Main player: Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
Biggest signings: Sadio Mané (forward, Bayern Munich-ALE), Seko Fofana (midfielder, Lens-FRA), Brozovic (midfielder, Internazionale-ITA), Alex Telles (winger, Manchester United-ING)
Coach: Luís Castro, Portugal

Al Raed
City: Buraydah
Foundation: 1954
League titles: 0
Main player: Mamadou Loum, Senegal
Biggest signings: André Moreira (goalkeeper, Grasshopers-SUI), Amir Sayoud (midfielder, Al Tai), Mamadou Loum (midfielder, Porto-POR)
Coach: Igor Jovicevic, Croatia

Al Riyadh
City: Riyadh
Foundation: 1961
League titles: 0
Main player: Martín Campaña, Uruguay
Biggest signings: Birama Touré (midfielder, Auxerre-FRA), Didier Ndong (midfielder, Dijon-FRA)
Manager: Yannick Ferrera, Belgium

Al Shabab
City: Riyadh
Foundation: 1947
League titles: 6
Main Player: Éver Banega, Argentina
Key signings: Habib Diallo (forward, Strasbourg-FRA), Cuéllar (midfielder, Al Hilal)
Coach: Marcel Keizer, Netherlands

Al Taawoun
City: Buraydah
Foundation: 1956
League titles: 0
Main player: Aschraf El Mahdioui, Netherlands
Biggest signings: Andrei Girotto (defender, Nantes-FRA), Ismael Díaz (midfielder, Universidad Católica-CHI), Flavio (midfielder, Trabzonspor-TUR)
Coach: Péricles Chamusca, Brazil

Al Tai
City: Ha’il
Foundation: 1961
League titles: 0
Main player: Robert Bauer, Germany
Biggest signings: Misidjan (midfielder, Twente-HOL), Mensah (forward, Kayserispor-TUR), Enzo Roco (winger, Elche-ESP)
Manager: Kresimir Rezic, Croatia

Al Wehda
City: Mecca
Foundation: 1935
League titles: 0
Main player: Anselmo, Brazil
Biggest signings: Saeed Al Mowalad (winger, Al Ettifaq)
Coach: Georgios Donis, Greece

damac

City: Khamis Mushait
Foundation: 1972
League titles: 0
Main player: Adam Maher, Netherlands
Biggest signings: Al Johani (Forward, Al Tai)
Coach: Cosmin Contra, Romania