The news of Saudi Clubs buying top football players from Europe is not new again. Sure, you are curious to know why Saudi League is massively buying top players.
The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of football in the Saudi league system. Due to the association’s clubs’ successful and consistent achievements in the AFC Champions League, the SPL consistently holds the top coefficient in Asia.
The most successful team in the SPL is Al-Hilal, which has won 18 championships overall and most recently in 2021/2022. Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Nassr are a few of the league’s most successful teams.
Saudi Arabia has always had a big interest in football – and a competitive league to go with it. The national team have qualified for six of the past eight World Cups. They have won three Asian Cups – only Japan has more.
These days, all we hear in the news is Saudi Pro League clubs making transfer bids for European players. Cristiano Ronaldo‘s signing is the biggest moment to date in the SPL. A lot of teams especially in Europe were trying to recruit the Portuguese international.
However, Ronaldo decided to move to the Middle East and is now enjoying his football in Saudi Arabia. This move seems to have opened doors for lots of top players as the likes of Karim Benzema and Ngolo Kante have followed in the footsteps of the Portuguese. Brazil’s superstar Neymar Jr. is also on the verge of completing a £77.6m move to Al-Hilal from Paris Saint Germain.
Due to no restriction on the financial rules, the SPL clubs offer players more than they are used to earning in their previous clubs. But the big question now is; Why are these Saudi-based clubs spending so much? What could be their long-term goal?
Reasons Why The Saudi Pro League Is Buying Top European Players
Here are some reasons why the Saudi Pro League is buying top European players.
For Economic Boost
Saudi Arabia is attempting to diversify its economy through new business ventures to secure its financial future. The nation’s economy needs to be more diversified because it is dependent on the sale of oil for revenue. PIF, the nation’s sovereign wealth investment fund, is used to accomplish this.
They are particularly interested in expanding the sports industry in the nation, including the football league. They seek to develop their own leisure and entertainment sector and capitalize on the enormous interest in football that exists among Saudi Arabia’s population, which is made up of 70% people under the age of 40.
Promoting tourism in the country
Football is highly popular in Saudi Arabia. They were the best-supported team in the Qatar World Cup last year, and their squad defeated eventual champions Argentina in the group stages.
When the Saudi Arabian rulers observed all this enthusiasm, they must have said to themselves: “Let’s make it ourselves and keep the money within our borders instead of allowing others to profit from our population’s interest in sport.” Putting Saudi Arabia on the map and raising its profile is one sure way to promote tourism in the country.
Read Also: How Many Champions League Matches Are Played Per Season?
Boost in Reputation
Amnesty International accused Saudi Arabia of embarking on a programme of “sportswashing to try to obscure its extremely poor human rights record.” The term “sportswashing” is the practice of utilizing sports to boost a nation’s or organization’s reputation by funding prominent sporting events or teams.
The Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, declared the beginning of an ambitious investment and privatization programme. The initiative has a significant emphasis on football since it is the national sport of Saudi Arabia and because it is also seeing extraordinary growth. Over 80% of Saudi Arabia’s population participates in, attends, or watches football.
The Saudi Pro League, which boasts of players from over 40 different countries and has seen attendance increase by nearly 150% in the last year, will be supported in its ambition to be amongst the top ten leagues in the world. Furthermore, the project aspires to raise the league’s commercial revenues from 450 million riyals in 2022 to over 1.8 billion riyals annually while generating private-sector investment opportunities and increasing the market value of the Roshn Saudi League from 3 billion to more than 8 billion riyals by 2030.
As well as being used for sportswashing, investing in football can also buy influence and prestige around the world and project soft power.
Read Also: What Does Buy Back Clause Mean In Football?
Conclusion
The growth of the Saudi league poses a problem for European football. Losing important players is not a novel experience; in the past, Major League Soccer and China have lured talents away.
But it’s concerning when players in their prime go, like Reuben Neves. Even among the top 20 in Deloitte’s rich list, funds are not limitless and financial regulations have to be adhered to. If they try to compete over an extended period, it would materially impact clubs’ most significant outlay – salaries.
Then there is the Champions League. Could teams from outside of Europe be allowed entry if the absence of the greatest names in world football began to compromise the competition’s status as the premier club event?
But UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin doesn’t seem to see it that way as he was quoted saying “The system of buying players that are almost at the end of their career is not the system that develops football. It was a similar mistake in China when they all brought players at the end of their careers. “It’s not only about money. Players want to win top competitions. And the top competition is in Europe.”
According to Sky Sport, Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad are willing to pay £100m to sign Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah. Whether this move materializes or not is left to be seen, but what is almost certain is that the SPL might not be slowing down in their pursuit of Europe’s top talents anytime soon.
And if they’ve got the money, why not splash it? After all the end almost always justifies the means.