The upcoming season will feature some of football’s top players in Saudi Arabia.
While French players Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante joined Saudi champions Al Ittihad last month after departing from Real Madrid and Chelsea, respectively, while Portuguese sensation Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al Nassr in December. Before the Saudi Professional League (SPL) kicks off in August, many more famous people are anticipated to arrive.
But arguably just as significant as the blockbuster transfers has been an announcement this week that the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, would take over four big domestic football clubs: the Riyadh-based Al Nassr and Al Hilal, and the Jeddah-based Al Ittihad and Al Ahli.
The ownership shift to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) signalled the start of a process to privatise clubs which have historically been under the control of the Ministry of Sports and relied on the state for financial support.
“There has been significant state involvement in football clubs in the past, most notably in terms of writing off debts, even as recently as 2022,” said Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at SKEMA Business School. “Now, they are trying to culturally transform these organisations from being state dependent into being much more purposeful strategic and businesslike organisations.”
According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the process aims to encourage the sport’s growth by attracting further investment, including by eventually enabling private sector involvement in clubs.
The plan centres around three main areas: Create an appealing investment environment; improve the governance of the clubs clubs in order for them to become more professional and financially sustainable; and boost their competitiveness by upgrading their infrastructure, SPA said. Reports also pointed out that the PFI has in the past taken control of entities before privatising them, though not always fully.
Chadwick said that further down the line, the Saudi clubs could attract outside buyers, much the same as those in the English Premier League. “Saudi Arabia wants to generate inward investment funds … from US private equity investment or investment from elsewhere in the world – and to make the clubs attractive they need to transform them to become more viable commercial propositions.”
While the levels of spending on foreign players are unprecedented, the idea is not new. When Pat Janssen was CEO of Riyadh-based club Al Shabab in 2017-18, privatisation was also on the agenda.
Source : Al Jazeera
