Saudi Arabia as new soccer country promised: ‘This is just sportswashing’

Al-Nassr, Ittihad FC, Al-Hilal or Al-Shabab. Anyone who follows soccer a bit sees the names of these Saudi clubs popping up more and more often. Just about every top footballer has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia in recent months.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the first big name to pack his bags for Riyadh in December. This was followed by the likes of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté and now Hakim Ziyech also seems to be making the move

Saudi Arabia seems to be the new promised land in soccer. For a princely fee, by the way: Ronaldo earns an estimated 200 million euros a year at Al-Nassr. An amount no European club can give him.

Players leaving for “the sandbox” is nothing new. For decades we have seen footballers making the move to Qatar, Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Although the landscape of Saudi Arabia also has a lot of sand, the current buying frenzy seems to be of a very different order.

Saudi Arabia is a soccer-mad country. Not only does the national team qualify for the World Cup with great regularity (and last year won over eventual world champion Argentina), a large portion of its nearly 36 million inhabitants watch an incredible amount of soccer. Its own league is very popular, but certainly also, for example, the English Premier League.

But the country wants more. Politically, but also on the football field. Led by an investment fund, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to bring the league to the level of the European sub-top. In doing so, it surpasses the plans of Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, for example.

Although the current investments seem to come fairly out of nowhere, René Ponk is not surprised. As a goalkeeper trainer, he has been working for three years in Saudi Arabia at a major youth academy. He has to deliver players there for the national (youth) teams.

“In 2021, the crown prince has stated a vision to get youth playing soccer and sports. He wants to make it even more popular,” Ponk said from the scorching hot capital (44 degrees) Riyadh. “The victory over Argentina at the World Cup was really a tipping point in that regard. From then on, the ball started rolling faster.”

“There’s also a big plan behind it. They want to raise the level of the league with the ultimate goal of hosting the World Cup.”

That plan is part of Crown Prince Bin Salman’s big project called Saudi Vision 2030. With that plan, Saudi Arabia is targeting a future without revenues from oil. Among other things, by investing now in the economy, tourism and futuristic projects, the country hopes to be influential in the long run.

“Actually, I see this as sportwashing“, explains Arabist and publicist Laila al Zwaini. “In practice, the crown prince is the autocrat because his father, the king, is very old. Since the latter came to power in 2015, his son’s responsibilities include the war in neighboring Yemen, the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the execution of activists.”

“He has recently been playing catch-up in his reputation to the outside world. By associating Saudi Arabia’s name with important sportsmen and influencers, no one is talking about those issues anymore.”

Give the people bread and games and they will keep quiet. The Romans already knew that, and Crown Prince Bin Salman has also read the history books. “Seventy percent of Saudi Arabia’s population is under the age of 35. The country has already become more liberal in recent years, but he is afraid that this generation wants more,” Al Zwaini knows. If he manages to attract their (soccer) heroes, they will shut up, is the idea.”

“It’s all about attracting positive attention, both at home and abroad. Now we are also talking about Ronaldo and not what terrible things are happening in Yemen. That’s exactly what he wants.”

Sportswashing or not, the stadiums are full and the crowd is enthusiastic. Even goalkeeper coach Ponk sees that up close. “The level right now is still right-row premier league, but they have the ability and the potential to take it to the next level. They are taking it very seriously. This won’t be over in five years. Here, nothing is too crazy and everything is possible.”

Al Zwaini also thinks Saudi Arabia can compete in top soccer. “At least that will be one of their goals. But it will depend on how long they continue to invest in it, whether the country remains stable and whether the economy becomes profitable even without the oil. If that works out, they can participate.”

“The crown prince is betting on several horses and is known as someone who wants quick results. Saudi Arabia also wants more influence on the international political stage. For this too they ‘use’ these top players, who of course have a huge constituency. But everything will depend on how successful the project Saudi Vision 2030 zalready are.”