Saudi Arabia is trying to disrupt soccer’s world order.

The reasons
why might surprise you

When Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal reportedly planned a $1.1 billion bid to sign French
soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé – including $332 million to his club, Paris Saint-Germain
(PSG), and an eye-watering $775 million salary packet to the World Cup winner for just one
year – it was slammed by critics as sportswashing. Mbappé might have said no to the offer in
July, but a month later, Neymar Jr. said yes to Al-Hilal, as the Brazil star moved from PSG for a
transfer fee of around $98.5 million (€90 million) plus add-ons, according to multiple reports.
In a record-breaking transfer window, Saudi Pro League (SPL) clubs spent close to $1
billion, acquiring 94 overseas players from Europe’s major leagues – France’s Ligue 1, Spain’s
La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and the English Premier League – according to
Deloitte. Despite the Arab nation’s poor human rights record, Saudi Arabia’s spending spree to
turn its domestic soccer league into a star-studded, bona �ide competition shows the
seriousness of its ambition.

Saudi clubs, several of which have been taken over by the nation’s sovereign Public
Investment Fund (PIF), have already attracted some of the biggest names in the sport. By
attracting some of the world’s biggest stars to the Gulf states, the SPL wants “to drive
competitiveness on and off the pitch,” though it’s keen to emphasize that these overseas players
will help develop “young Saudi talent.”

During this summer transfer window, the government-controlled PIF increased the
cumulative value of these four clubs nearly �ive times, making them the most valuable in the
country, according to estimates by the sports website Transfermarkt. Plenty of other leading
stars have eagerly said yes to the SPL, notably 2022 Ballon D’Or winner Karim Benzema joining
Al-Ittihad at the end of his contract with Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid.

As the European transfer window came to a close, the four PIF-owned teams have spent
nearly $900 million (€835.1 million) on buying elite international players, Transfermarkt data
shows, which ranked them in the top 20 clubs in the world by transfer expenditure, alongside
soccer giants from England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.

The newly acquired players join �ive-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, who
has a two-year contract with Al-Nassr where he will earn a staggering estimated $200 million
a year, according to Saudi state-owned media, currently making him the world’s highest paid
soccer player. As of today, 21 of the most expensive soccer players in Saudi Arabia by transfer
fees – all international stars – play for one of the PIF-owned clubs.

Despite the �inancial outlay, the SPL is remaining deliberately tight-lipped about the
speci�ics of its �inancial gamble, with chief operating of�icer Carlo Nohra con�irming to CNN
Sport that it was “not in [the SPL’s] competitive advantage” to report the salaries offered to
players and coaches.
Saudi’s love of soccer

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 Saudi Arabia follows in the footsteps of several other countries – including China and
Qatar in investing large sums of money to try and turn themselves into soccer powerhouses. It
remains to be seen whether Saudi’s turbocharged investment will have a lasting impact or
resemble something like a costly rebranding effort.
Buying star players, some arguably past their prime, also provides an easy win for Saudi
teams, according to Kieran Maguire, co-host of “The Price of Football” podcast. “From the Saudi
authorities’ point of view, they’re getting a ready-made product. Everybody’s heard of
Benzema. Everybody’s heard of Cristiano Ronaldo and so on,” Maguire said.

Saudi Arabia’s lofty sporting ambitions don’t end with the SPL or Newcastle United.
The country is hosting the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup and is bidding to host the 2027 AFC Asian
Cup. Several media reports also indicated that the Gulf kingdom was considering launching a
bid for the 2030 FIFA men’s World Cup alongside Greece and Egypt – although it is reportedly
mulling pulling its candidacy.

Meanwhile, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has agreed to a contract that
will see the Spanish Super Cup played in Saudi Arabia until 2029, a deal that will earn the
Spanish governing body between €35-45 million ($38-48 million) a year.. Chadwick explains
that Saudi Arabia’s government is concerned with the prospect of its younger members of
society becoming radicalized or an anti-government sentiment bubbling up like that of the
Arab Spring – and looks to offer its population a thriving soccer industry to keep it placated.
Though the soccer industry generates employment, revenues, export earnings and
inward investment, “what is just as signi�icant is the security of the royal family,” Chadwick
adds. The Arab Spring, a wave of pro-democracy protests that washed over the Middle East and
North Africa in 2011, achieved mixed results. Four Arab dictators in Libya, Yemen, Egypt and
Tunisia were toppled, offering a brief sense of victory for protesters, but, since then, new wars
have prompted a retreat of popular movements in the region.

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 Fill in the Blank With Appropriate Meaning!

1. Powerhouse :
2. Prompted :
3. Toppled :
4. Slammed :
5. Resembled :
6. Hosting :
7. Emphasize :
8. Overseas :
9. Bubble up :
10. Alongside :
11. Wash over :
12. Eagerly :
13. Spree :
14. Gulf :
15. Mulling :
16. Tight-lipped :
17. Sovereign :
18. Lofty :
19. Staggering :
20. Expenditure :

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