Saudi's growing clout

From roping in golf and football superstars to hosting F1 races to boxing bouts, the Gulf kingdom’s ambitions could change world’s sporting landscape

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo reacts during the match against Al Shabab at the KSU Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Credit: Reuters Photo

If you’ve been following sports news since the beginning of June, there is no way you would have missed reading about Saudi Arabia’s ever-growing ambition to become a sporting power — largely by pumping in its oil cash. Almost everyday there has been some news about Saudi Arabia and it may not stop in the weeks to come. It all started with their bid to rope in superstars of world football to enhance the Saudi Pro League — their top tier league. As various European leagues, especially the Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga, were coming to a conclusion after an exhaustive season last weekend, Saudi Arabia said various clubs were determined to sign stars like Karim Benzema, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, N’Golo Kante, Sergio Busquets, Angel Di Maria, Jordi Alba and Sergio Ramos.

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The 35-year-old Benzema, winner of staggering five Champions League titles with Real Madrid and the current Ballon d’Or holder, was the first to sign a lucrative deal with Al-Ittihad with Kante all set to join his French compatriot very soon. Saudi Arabia’s main target Messi, also the tourism ambassador for the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, surprisingly chose Major League Soccer side Inter Miami but several others stars who are in the twilight of their respective careers may just opt for the easier option like Cristiano Ronaldo did in December last year — take the nice fat retirement package Saudi is offering after having done all the hard yards for two decades in Europe.

If football was experiencing mild tremors, the sporting world endured seismic effects on Tuesday. Several golfers going through the practice round at the Oakdale Golf & Country Club in Toronto on a balmy Spring morning ahead of the RBC Canadian Open were caught off-guard when an email popped up in their inboxes. The PGA Tour announced that they, along with DP World Tour — the body that runs professional golf in Europe - were merging with Saudi-financed rival faction LIV Golf. Golfers were in utter disbelief because even until a fortnight ago at the PGA Championship, there was a lot of bad blood between PGA and LIV Golf.

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Ever since LIV Golf, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIV), arrived on the scene in 2021, they’ve been brutal about how they’ve gone about their business. They roped in the hard-nosed Greg Norman, a two-time Major-winner-turned successful entrepreneur as their CEO, and under his guidance and financial backing from PIV, one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world, they splurged money to successfully lure many of the golf superstars. Major winners like Phil Mickelson, one of the legends of sport, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Sergio Garcia were amongst some of the big names to jump ship instantly.

Given Saudi Arabia’s human rights record which is constantly under the scanner, especially from the western media, some golfers felt it would be immoral to join LIV. In fact, that was exactly what PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan kept talking about to keep his flock together and his association and DP World Tour cancelled playing rights of defectors. At every instance he kept pointing out Saudi’s human rights record and how players should consider the rich history of PGA before deciding to fall into the money “trap” laid by LIV. So when the bombshell announcement came, even staunch LIV critics like Rory McIlroy, who apparently was offered $500 million by PIV to join them, were peeved for being kept in the dark about the deal. But money talks and Monahan ended up making everyone look like fools while laughing himself to the bank, personally that is.

In fact, the merger shows how Saudi Arabia has been constantly using sports as a tool to give itself an image makeover. Under the ‘Vision 2030’ development plan, conceived by the de facto ruler, the 37-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia is undergoing massive changes — socially, economically and somewhat culturally too.

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It’s building new tourist facilities, a futuristic $500 billion new city where liquor could be made available in some hotels, and hosted a string of top sporting events like F1 races, golf tournaments, the Italian Super Cup finals, the Spanish Super Cup, boxing bouts featuring Anthony Joshua and even WWE pay per view events which were largely restricted to Americas until a few years ago. The orthodox Islamic country even allowed women wrestlers to compete, albeit fully clothed from neck to toe, something which many thought would never happen in a country where women were allowed to drive only in 2018. Saudi Arabia, which bought Premier League club Newcastle United last year, will be hosting the 2017 AFC Asian Cup and has expressed its desire to conduct the Asian Games and other high profile events.

Some of these events take place over a weekend after which people tend to forget. Saudi Arabia wants to stay relevant constantly and that’s why it is determined to revolutionise the national football league. With a population of 36 million, Saudi Arabia has a decent footballing history and they showed their capability when they shocked Argentina 2-1 in a group stage game at the Qatar World Cup last year. Argentina later went on to lift their third World Cup! However, the Saudi league is not known outside the Arab world and the best way to propel its growth is by roping in big names who can fill stadiums and boost TV viewership. It started with Ronaldo and continues with Benzema, Kante and others.

“Roping in stars who are in their last legs but still have some mileage left in them has been happening for decades and Saudi are just following the time-tested template,” Terry Phelan, a former Premier League player who played for Manchester City and Chelsea among others, told DHoS. “First the great Pele did it by playing for New York Cosmos in the 1970s, Gary Lineker did in the 1990s by playing for Nagoya Grampus in Japan, well even ISL when they started out years ago, roped in global stars. They give you the initial thrust you need, fans fill up the stadiums to see the stars, broadcasters are happy, the local players can learn from the best and clubs make money selling jerseys and merchandise.

“But what happens after the initial frenzy is what is important. If Saudi Arabia are serious about football, then they’ve got plenty of financial muscle power to ensure the growth is sustained. But if it’s part of a wider plan then it remains to be seen how the league benefits from it once the stars vanish because then you need a strong foundation to sustain it. The US and Japan were able to do it by implementing strong programmes. China, who too tried the football route, failed at it. Saudi, on the other hand, have a quality national team so they have something strong to build upon.”

When asked if young players would be tempted to join the Saudi League if offered eye-popping sums like some of the golfers were to sign up for LIV, Phelan begged to differ. “Golf is an individual sport with a different set of challenges. In European football, the best players want to play for the best clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, now Manchester City. These clubs have character and history. When you play for them, you become automatic choices for your national teams.”

There’s no doubt that Europe is the primary destination for young aspiring footballers. But there’s no hiding Saudi Arabia’s aspiration to be a global superpower in the world of sports. Armed with oil money, they are here to make that money talk big.