Ex-DFL boss: “Everything is so repugnant”
Rettig has bitter fears about Saudi billions
08/05/2023 1:18 p.m
Saudi Arabia is investing huge sums in stars this summer and Andreas Rettig sees football as a whole in jeopardy. “Dark times” will come to the fans, predicts the former DFL managing director, who does not take good care of the commitment of the kingdom.
The former DFL managing director Andreas Rettig sees the billions being invested in Saudi Arabia as a threat to football as a whole. “An industry that earns its money with and through the public needs social acceptance. And if you no longer have it, you will end up not making any money because people will turn away,” said the 60-year-old “Munich Mercury/tz”. The result is an “emotional alienation”.
In view of the huge sums paid in Saudi Arabia, even for comparatively unknown players, Rettig sees “dark times” for football lovers. “If those who have an incredible amount of money don’t spend it with their hands, but drive out with wheelbarrows, the result is what we are currently observing on the transfer market. Nobody who loves this sport can please anyone who loves this sport,” he said.
“Jamal Khashoggi Cup would be a real sign”
In the long term, however, the league in Saudi Arabia will not be able to survive comparable projects in the USA, Qatar or China, as in the past. “Whenever it comes to sensationalism, sports washing and motives outside of the world of football, it will remain more of a temporary phenomenon,” said Rettig.
He doesn’t even want to deal with the sporting results of the Saudi Professional League. “It’s all so repugnant to me! Do you know what I would rather pursue? If someone were to organize a Jamal Khashoggi Cup in Germany. That would be a real sign.” The Saudi Arabian journalist Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Arabian Consulate General in Istanbul in 2018, and his body has not yet been found. The Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who has been pulling the strings in the kingdom for a long time, is said to have ordered the assassination. The country disagrees with this representation.