In the gold rush: Saudi Arabia as the new football power?

It owes this to the almost unlimited spending spree of the Saudi royal family, which is already on the bill Cristiano Ronaldo , Karim Benzema , Sadio Mané or Steven Gerrard . For critics, the stars are willing henchmen of a large-scale image campaign by the Saud dynasty.

With endless financial resources and prominent names, Saudi Arabia wants to become one of the biggest players in the sports scene. According to estimates by the human rights organization Grant Liberty, the strictly conservative-governed kingdom has already invested 1,5 billion dollars (around 1,3 billion euros) into sport.

Superstar Ronaldo made his debut in football after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. With his move to Al-Nassr, the 38-year-old Portuguese drew the attention of the football community to Saudi Arabia for the first time. He is expected to collect around 200 million euros per year for his services. A royal compensation for the kick in temperatures of up to 50 degrees in summer. Also playing for the club from the capital Riyadh are ex-Salzburg man Mané, Marcelo Brozovic or Seko Fofana.

Riyad Mahrez also moved to the desert. © APA/afp / OLI SCARFF

Local rivals Al-Hilal, who have made two offers to Paris Saint-Germain, want to go even bigger. Signing Mbappé for a transfer fee of a rumored 300 million euros would go beyond all previously known dimensions. If it works, it would be a big surprise; the 24-year-old star striker doesn't seem to be interested. There is also fishing Marco Verratti . Already under contract with Al-Hilal Sergej Milinkovic-Savic , Kalidou Koulibaly and Ruben Neves . In focus recently: Portugal's Joao Felix (23), who is due to leave Atletico Madrid after his loan at Chelsea and is very popular with his fellow countryman Jorge Jesus.

The presence of former Liverpool grandees in the Saudi Professional League is astonishing. Ex-captain Jordan Henderson teamed up with “Reds” legend Gerrard, who is a coach at Al-Ettifaq. The Brazilian Fabinho moved to Al-Ittihad last week, where there are already the French Benzema and Kanté have set up. In Austria, the abrupt move from ex-Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle to Al-Ahli caused a stir. He meets the Brazilian in the promoted team Roberto Firmino on another ex-Liverpool player. Riyad Mahrez came from Champions League winners Manchester City.

Polish up the country's image In the global spending ranking, the Saudi upper house is already on a par with the German Bundesliga with around 450 million euros - and well ahead of the Spanish LaLiga (300 million). Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli are mostly supplied with money and controlled by the royal family through the Public Investment Fund (PIF/estimated reserves: 1971 billion dollars) founded in 650. Additional clubs were placed under the supervision of government authorities and state-related institutions.

The country's de facto ruler and fund chairman is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has chosen sport as a vehicle to polish the country's image. After all, the world should talk about sporting highlights and not about executions or the oppression of women. Or about the brutal murder of the anti-government journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. There are tons of critical voices who call this “sportwashing”.

The Formula 1 race in Jeddah, the Premier League club Newcastle United, boxing events, the LIV golf series and the 2029 Asian Winter Games are already part of the growing sports portfolio. In addition, Saudi Arabia - together with Egypt and Greece - is hoping to be awarded the contract to host the 2030 World Cup. In the recent past, the royal family was annoyed that its tiny neighbor Qatar, of all places, stood out in the sports scene. That should change now.

A specific goal is to build the Saudi Professional League into one of the ten largest leagues in the world in order to be able to benefit economically from it. The ambitious plan: By 2030, the PIF should have become the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. “In my opinion, if they continue the work, the Saudi league can be among the top five leagues in the world in five years,” Ronaldo said. If that happens, the exodus of stars from Europe to the desert will soon be the norm.

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In the gold rush: Saudi Arabia as the new football power?

The new season of the Saudi Professional League begins on August 11th, but the football championship in Saudi Arabia has never been in more international focus than this year.

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