Football as a Strategy for National Prosperity: The Saudi PIF Example

It is common knowledge that if the people are happy, the nation will be at peace. Such is the capacity which sports possess.’’

Gen. Yakubu Gowon, (1934-)Nigerian Head of State, 1966-75

 The Saudi Arabian Football League, now known as #RoshnSaudiLeague as a result of some huge capital investments it recently attracted, has risen to probably compete with the World’s 5(England, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain) major football leagues in terms of capital investments and content capabilities. It’s an outcome of the investment by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund which in June 2022 took equity control over four of the country's top football teams - Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli – as part of the country’s Vision2030 plan. Under it, football plays an integral part in the kingdom’s aim to diversify its economy, boost tourism, and create an atmosphere of investments to strengthen national prosperity and enhance global appeal.

THE SAUDI ARABIAN PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND

This institution is a deliberate creation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to pursue its national development through the diversification of its economy into diverse sectors. It was founded in 1971 as its Sovereign Wealth Fund Initiative and re-modeled in 2015. The fund is managed by a Board but under the direct guidance of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.

The PIF has an ultimate goal to become a global investment leader through the delivery of large-scale investment and infrastructure projects that would shape the global economy.

AN ABRIDGED PROFILE OF THE SAUDI PIF

92 Portfolio companies created

13 Strategic sectors

560,000 + Jobs created

$700BN + Assets Under Management

THE SAUDI ARABIAN ROSHAN LEAGUE

In June 2022, the Saudi PIF bought 75% investment rights over four of its major football clubs as earlier highlighted, and thus prompted the drive to attract the best quality of world footballers to strengthen her local league.

The major bang in their investment was the coming of Portuguese captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the world’s most decorated active footballers, in January 2023. Thereafter, others followed and by the end of the summer 2023 transfer window, about $900m had been spent on players transfer by the 14 teams in the SaudiRoshanLeague! According to Transfermarket, one of the world’s most authoritative football websites on players’ activities, the RoshanLeague, ranked second, apart from the English Premier League, in player transfers.

In terms of individual spending by football clubs, three out of the ten biggest spenders in the August 2023 transfer window, are from within the SaudiRoshanLeague. Hitherto, it was not so!

Other consequences of this strategic plan include,

·        Signed broadcast deals globally with leading media houses like DAZN, Canal+, etc. to make the league available in 130+ countries

 

·        Brought a boost to local manufacturers and businesses by signing 116+ sponsorship deals across the 18 teams

·        Same for the kits, 18 teams have partnered with 12 kit manufacturers including #Nike #Puma #Adidas and many local manufacturers like Offside

Whilst justifying this move, His Excellency, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the Governor of the PIF, highlighted the need to meet the interest in sports for the 63% of Saudis who are under the age of 30.

"You will have a lot of young people who are interested in sports and entertainment and that's basically part of the offering."

He further reiterated the huge expenditure as a deliberate investment targeted towards sustainability for the enterprise

"It makes financial sense to us, and that's the only way going forward. We don't like to subsidize things … we would like to have it sustainable."

Whilst most pessimists would doubt the sustainability of this project, seeing the income generated, it is expected that its drivers would have studied the factors that caused the demise of the Chinese League (it was a similar initiative) and the teething problems faced by the English Premier League before its stability. Overall, using sports as a basis to strengthen national prosperity and peace would also remain a success, as highlighted in the introductory statement of this article.

 

Has Ronaldo's Move To Saudi Arabia Diminished His Football Legacy?

Cristiano Ronaldo left his country Portugal for England when he was just eighteen. His extraordinary football talent attracted the Manchester United FC hierarchy and in 2003, they signed him from Sporting Lisbon FC. He played for them, winning several football laurels, including the UEFA Champions League and English Premier League before he was snapped by Real Madrid FC of Spain. At Madrid, he surpassed his achievements with Manchester United. He currently is the 2nd highest winner of the Balloon D’or, apart from Lionel Messi. He has won five UEFA Champions League titles and five Balloon D’or. Ronaldo is the highest goal scorer in Real Madrid's history but like always, he moved. His next destination was Italy where he joined the old lady, Juventus FC and he also excelled with them. In 2020, Ronaldo returned to England and re-joined Manchester United FC. He did excellently in the first season, emerging as the club’s highest goal scorer for the season and amongst the highest goal scorers in the English Premier League. He did not complete his second season and had his contract terminated just before after the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup after some disagreements with Coach Erik Ten Hag. 

Cristiano Ronaldo's Move To Saudi Arabia

Whilst tongues were wagging on what his next destination would be, it was announced that Ronaldo had joined al Nasser of Saudi Arabia. It was a very lucrative financial offer from the Saudi club and possibly to further convince him, several other world football icons were lured with fat cash to join Ronaldo. It marked the beginning of the Saudi Arabian football Revolution and Cristiano Ronaldo became the star boy! Lionel Messi rejected the offer to move to Saudi Arabia, but Neymar, Karim Benzema, and several others obliged. Some critics believe his move was just about money and that it would not enhance his football legacies. A critical analysis implies the opposite. Cristian Ronaldo has won everything in football except the FIFA World Cup. 

The Rationale of Cristiano Ronaldo's Move

Making the move to Saudi Arabia at the twilight of his career appears the best thing to have happened to his football career! Had he remained in Europe and with his huge financial demands, very few clubs would have been able to afford him. Rather, they would prefer a younger player with less risk of injury and no worries about managing the ego that most players of Ronaldo’s profile carry. Even with his fitness and positive work ethic, it remains contentious if he'd have been able to match the tactical demands and constant competition for positions synonymous with the volatile European leagues compared to the freedom he enjoys in Saudi Arabia. The quality of the Saudi Arabian league puts him under lesser pressure whilst enjoying the benefits of dazzling the less technically gifted players with his exquisite skills and experience. Apart from building another positive football profile for himself in Saudi Arabia, by hopefully winning laurels, the annals of football history would immensely credit his contributions to the Saudi Arabian Football Revolution.

• The Saudi Arabian Football Revolution And Its Future

The entire world football was open to the spectacle of magnificent stadiums, hotels, and hospitality, last year when the kingdom of Qatar hosted the FIFA World Cup. It was the first time that such a huge world sporting tournament had ever been brought to the entire Middle Eastern Region of the World. It was a culmination of Qatar’s long effort to showcase their nation to the world using the entrepreneurial sagacity of their leadership. They have scored several business branding pluses using their flagship brand asset, Emirates Airlines. This organization has executed several corporate agreements with big sporting establishments, such as Real Madrid FC, AC Milan FC, Arsenal FC, Olympiacos FC, Chelsea FC, Benfica FC, and Hamburg S.V. for a country of its size, much has been achieved by them to establish their nation, as a business-friendly, liberal-minded Islamic state, without the restrictions existing within the economies of several of its neighbors. 

BACKGROUND TO THE SAUDI ARABIAN FOOTBALL REVOLUTION 

These foreign and economic policies of the Kingdom of Qatar, have never been a secret within the entire Middle East region and it was obvious that its success would encourage others to follow suit at the ripe time. In the past two decades funding from the Middle East has been used for investment into popular football club sides such as Manchester City, FC, Paris Saint Germain, and lately Newcastle United FC. 

The emergence of Crown Prince Ibn Salman as a critical driving force in the political and economic policies of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia soon brought these expectations to manifestation. He’s consistently attracted high-profile wrestling and world boxing title matches to Riyadh and the new strategy of attracting quality world footballers to his country is another new dimension to the quest of making the Middle East a veritable location for sports and entertainment. The success of the Qatar FIFA World Cup appears to have further exposed the Middle East to several world football stars. The Erik Ten Hag and Cristiano Ronaldo imbroglio created a perfect opportunity to launch the Saudi Arabian football revolution in the most auspicious way. The latter led the pack of established footballers and coaches to arrive in Saudi, after the 2022 World Cup, and within a twinkle the total numbers make the Saudi League more star-packed than most leagues in Europe and obviously the United States of America. 

 WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? 

It is obvious that the lure of money has attracted fantastic players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Sadio Mane, Fabinho, Alexander Mitrovic, Edward Mendy, Jordan Henderson, et al but surprisingly, the organizers have not complimented their strategy with the requisite media blitz and strategic broadcasts of their matches. Whilst money played a very important role in attracting the first football explorers, it might not be able to sustain the long-term relevance of this league. The big leagues in Europe also pay well, though, not like the Saudis. The lure of important trophies, such as the Ballon d’Or, UEFA Champions League, the EPL, LaLiga, German and even French league trophies still appear more attractive than whatever the Middle East can give and it would be no surprise, if this revolution collapses within a decade or less; or rather becomes a retirement destination for fagged players to earn their last pay! 

  Argentine World Cup Captain and multiple Balloon D’or winner, Lionel Messi have chosen the American League over Saudi Arabia, and this trend will continue for sometime, just the same way Edson Arantes de Nascimento Jnr(Pele), supported the failed American Football League launch of the mid-1970s. Overall, the soccer revolution has good prospects of being used to launder the Middle East as a liberal, rather than ultra-conservative society for everyone.