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On The Ball
Saudi Arabia, world football’s new disruptor, is just getting started
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Karim Benzema greeting the crowd during his unveiling as an Al Ittihad player at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah on June 8.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – There are shifting sands within global football. Desert sands, mostly. Saudi Arabia, the big daddy of the Persian Gulf, is making its play as the game’s new disruptor. This week saw it suggest that a joint bid with Greece, Egypt and Turkey to host the 2030 World Cup is likely to be withdrawn, but few see that as anything than part of a plan to make sure the kingdom wins the 2034 bidding process.
Meanwhile, Saudi tentacles are stretching into domestic football, while augmenting the country’s own league. This month, the Riyadh-based Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal, and the Jeddah-based Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli, were taken under the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Four other clubs came under the ownership of major Saudi corporations.
