HighlightSportsTrending Story

How Saudi disrupted the world footballing order

770

The Saudi Pro League also known as Roshn Saudi League (RSL) was founded in 1976, but it was few months ago the league became a force in the global football space.

The Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 is planned to diversify their economy away from fossil fuels and to host 25 world championship across a number of sports including the World Cup.

The original ambition of co-hosting the World Cup with Egypt and Greece has now been effectively abandoned, Persecondnews gathered.

Officials and ministers from the Gulf Kingdom have already communicated with prominent figures in European football to secure support from the continent as a prelude to making an official offer to organize the 25th edition of the FIFA World Cup finals.

The Kingdom is also working towards becoming the top 10 football league in the world by 2030.

The Saudi Pro League dominated the headlines during the last transfer window, spending over £700m on some of the world’s best players, ranking second in the world for national spending behind England’s Premier League.

This was made possible due to the country’s new sports privatization project aiming to increase the market value of the Saudi Pro League from its current $800 million to 2.1 billion by 2030.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund established in 1971, stepped in and took ownership and control of four soccer clubs in the Saudi Pro League—Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ahli—as part of the Kingdom’s newly announced Sports Clubs Investment and Privatization Project.

The clubs are being restructured as private companies that will each be 75% owned by the PIF. Each club’s nonprofit foundation will hold the remaining 25% ownership stake.

The league has grown in stature since Cristiano Ronaldo $75 million-per-year contract with Al Nassr FC, the lure of lucrative contract has enticed Europe elite players to ditch European football.

Former Chelsea chief Michael Emenalo, who is spearheading the transformation in the league disclosed that the Saudi football vision “It’s not flash in the pan” but a continuous football developmental process.

Which will also focus on growing “infrastructure, development, academies” to help the quality of the league and “hopefully enhances the sport globally and the business of football worldwide.”

Emenalo said: “It’s not flash in the pan regarding continuous development because football never stops. As far as acquisition is concerned, I don’t anticipate there will continue to be flurry of activity.

“The reason being that we have 18 clubs, and they have an allocation of eight foreign players they can bring in – and a lot of them have filled their allocations, and signed two to four-year contracts, so there will be some stability and I don’t know if there will be a flurry.

“It’s time for us to turn our attention to other parts of growing the league – infrastructure, development, academies, regional school players and the rest of that.”

Leave a comment

Related Articles

Siblings Feud Over Mother’s Mysterious Death, Secret Burial as Court Orders Exhumation

A simmering family dispute in Akure, Ondo State, regarding the death and...

Caution, Strategy Key to Successful AMCON Wind-Down, Says Finance Minister

Mr. Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the...

Gateway Games: Osaretin Shocks Ukpeseraye in 200m Heat, Sets Up Thrilling Semi-Final Showdown

    By Samuel Akpan live in Abeokuta Teenage cycling sensation Osaretin...

Bayelsa Maintains Lead, Delta Surges to Second Position at Gateway Games

LBayelsa State is still dominating the 22nd National Sports Festival, the Gateway...

Kanu’s Trial: Judge Warns Lawyer Over Social Media, FG Opposes Live Streaming

The Federal Government has formally written to the court, objecting to the...

Just in: Court Admits Judgment on Military Raid of Kanu’s Home as Evidence

The Federal High Court in Abuja has accepted three judgments as evidence,...

Gateway Games: Osun State Female Football Team Stomps Benue 6-1, Seals Semi-Final Spot

By Samuel Akpan reporting from Ikenne The Osun State female football team...

Gateway Games: Ogun State Swimmer Tobiloba Clinches Historic Gold

By Samuel Akpan in Ikenne, Ogun Omolola Tobiloba Akinsanmi has etched her...

Gateway Games Day 4 : FCT, Akwa Ibom Shine in Ayo Singles

By Samuel Akpan reporting from Ikenne centre The Ayo competition at the...

Gateway Games Day 3: Bayelsa Leads Pack with 6 Gold Medals

By Samuel Akpan live in Abeokuta As the 22nd National Sports Festival...

Insurgency: Boko Haram Has Moles Among Politicians, Military, Alleges Borno Gov. Zulum 

The protracted war against insurgency in Nigeria has taken a disturbing turn,...

Drug Abuse Crisis Alarming, Gripping Nigerian Youth, Small Doctor Cries Out

Worried by the alarming rate of drug abuse among young Nigerians, street-pop...

Gateway Games: NSC to Name and Shame 10 More States Involved in Doping – Olopade

By Samuel Akpan Live in Abeokuta Following Persecondnews’ report on Akwa-Ibom, the...

EFCC Hands Over 753 Forfeited Properties Linked to Emefiele to FG

The 753 housing units in the Abuja housing estate of the former...

External Auditors Cite Legal Constraints for Senate Committee Absence, NNPCL, NAPIMS Not Implicated

The external auditors for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and...

No Need to Panic: Ogun Govt Responds to Tanker Blast at Gateway Games

    Aftermath of a diesel tanker explosion near the Alake Sports...

Food Insecurity: NNPC Foundation Begins 6,000 Farmers’ Training in Ilora, Oyo State

By Samuel Akpan Live in Abeokuta In a groundbreaking initiative aimed at...

CBN Maintains Status Quo: Interest Rate Remains at 27.50%

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee has retained the...

Just In: Police Stray Bullet Claims Life of WASSCE Student in Ibadan

A student heading to take the West African Senior School Certificate Examination...

Just In: TUC Protests Workers’ Poor Welfare at Federal Finance Ministry

Members of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria on Tuesday shut...