Without financial fair play, Saudi Arabia turbines league – 06/25/2023 – Sport

Roberto Rivellino has repeatedly explained his strategy. After a match in which he had scored goals or performed well for Al Hilal, a prince would always appear in the locker room. The Brazilian midfielder, world champion in 1970, praised the watch worn by the member of the royal family, who took it off his wrist immediately.

“It’s yours,” His Highness would say.

When scoring the King’s Cup title goal for the same club, Brazilian striker Carlos Eduardo won a present from the club’s president, Sheikh Nawaf bin Saad: a gold iPhone with the player’s name engraved on it.

For decades, football in Saudi Arabia, with more amateur athletes than professionals, boiled down to stories like this. It called attention to individual rewards that depended on the good will of an authority. The national league was not known for its structure.

“[Os sauditas] they were not professional players. They received gifts from princes. There were players who suddenly disappeared,” Rivellino told Sheet in 2019.

Without the rules of “financial fair play”, which restrict spending by the big Europeans, the Saudi league is undergoing an economic transformation not seen in football since China decided to boost its local tournament, at the beginning of the last decade.

Just on the salaries of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté, two clubs in the country (Al Nassr and Al Ittihad) will spend 420 million euros (about R$ 2.2 billion) per year. Other well-known names such as Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gündogan are also of interest.

The biggest dream of consumption escaped. Lionel Messi chose to live in Miami and play in the MLS (Major League Soccer). He had an offer from Al Hilal to receive US$ 400 million per season (R$ 1.9 billion).

The Argentine’s agreement in the United States has commercial clauses, such as a percentage of the sale of TV packages by Apple and shirts by Adidas. But just on salary he will pocket about US$ 40 million a year (R$ 191 million).

“All this is a sign of Saudi Arabia’s willingness to disrupt the established football order traditionally controlled by Europe. While these investments in football and other sports are for economic and social reasons, they also show the Saudi ability and desire to increase its international power,” wrote Hezha Barzani, director of development at Menaaction, an NGO that deals with issues related to democracy and human rights.

It is a view that football is a tool of “sporstwashing”, the use of sport as a geopolitical weapon. Saudi Arabia had already been accused of this when a company linked to the country’s 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, which held several sporting events (including the World Cup) and controls Paris Saint-Germain.

The Saudis are rehearsing the same path. They are considering submitting a candidacy to host, alongside Egypt and Greece, the 2030 World Cup. They are also thinking of trying to host the 2036 Olympic Games.

Football in Saudi Arabia will undergo a privatization process, the government has announced. But, before that, the main clubs were nationalized.

The country’s sovereign wealth fund took control of the four most popular teams: Al Nassr, Al Ittihad, Al Ahli and Al Hilal. The investment entity controlled by the royal family 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 of the royal family is to increase the revenue of the professional league and take it to US$ 480 million (R$ 2.3 billion) in 2030. It is currently at US$ 120 million (R$ 573 million). The market value of the tournament, projected, is US$ 2.1 billion (R$ 10 billion).

“If great players arrive, old or young, they will be welcome. If that happens, the championship will improve”, said Cristiano Ronaldo.

With the exception of those with the participation of clubs with the biggest crowds, such as Al Hilal and Al Ittihad, the games are not seen by large audiences. No wonder, the capacity of stadiums in the first division ranges from 6,000 to 62,000 spectators.

Reinforcing the rosters with foreigners was never a problem. According to the competition regulations, each team can have up to eight athletes not born in Saudi Arabia on the field.

Al Ittihad, who won the title in the last round, overcoming Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, have the best attendance average: 44,000 people per game.

The fact that other players like Luka Modric (37 years old), Hugo Lloris (36) and Roberto Firmino (31) are courted by teams in the country may reinforce the nickname given in European football to the Saudi championship, which now has veterans in search for an excellent contract at the end of his career: retirement league.