Romain Rouillard / Photo credit: AFP PHOTO / HO / SAUDI PRO LEAGUE
What if Saudi Arabia becomes the new Eldorado of world football? The seduction operation of the oil monarchy with football stars seems, in any case, to bear fruit. This Tuesday, Karim Benzema officially joined the Al-Ittihad club, based in Jeddah on the shores of the Red Sea. And several sources, including AFP, indicate that N’Golo Kanté, world champion in 2018 with the Blues and a real darling of the French public, will follow suit. The two Habs will therefore join a championship in which a certain Cristiano Ronaldo is already evolving. The five-time Portuguese Golden Ball had yielded to the sirens of the Al-Nassr club last winter.
— نادي الاتحاد السعودي (@ittihad) June 6, 2023
“Sportwashing” but not only
So many stars that had to be convinced to sign in a championship that was a priori anonymous and devoid of any real sporting interest. Unsurprisingly, the financial argument played a major role. Karim Benzema should thus receive the very tidy sum of 200 million euros net per season. A checkbook policy that allows Riyadh to deploy a much more global strategy. “Bringing these great athletes is buying an image, a credibility, a reputation. This can help attract investors and improve geopolitical relations with other states”, explains Lukas Aubin, director of research at IRIS, in charge of the sport and geopolitics program. Because Saudi Arabia still suffers from an image tarnished by its relative respect for human rights.
But this “sportwashing”, in other words the use of sport to erase a form of unpopularity on the international scene, is only a simple piece in the Saudi puzzle. Attracting great players to his local league is part of the Vision 2030 project, presented by the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman last November. A vast development plan which should enable Saudi Arabia to diversify its economy and gradually emerge from dependence on gas and oil, the resources of which will eventually dry up.
A question of “national pride”
Sport is therefore one of the sectors that Riyadh wishes to grow, as is tourism. Two closely related areas. The Argentinian star Lionel Messi is, in fact, bound by a contract making him the ambassador of tourism in Saudi Arabia. “The sporting aura of the great players thus makes it possible to promote other sectors in the context of the post-oil economy”, summarizes David Rigoulet-Roze, associate researcher at IRIS, specialist in the Arabian Peninsula.
Through these recruitments of stars with a vengeance, Riyadh also wishes to become a credible nation in the international sports sphere. “It’s not just a strategy vis-à-vis the outside. It’s about creating something rewarding in terms of national pride for the Saudis,” explains David Rigoulet-Roze. A strategy which thus differs from that adopted a few years ago by the Qatari neighbor. “For Qatar, the idea was rather to buy clubs and develop sports media like BeIN Sports. Saudi Arabia is doing it too – we saw it with Newcastle in the English league – but it also wants to create a Saudi league that is sportingly credible,” continues the researcher.
Create a “sports culture”
Because Riyadh is also thinking about the future. If the oil monarchy has already obtained the organization of the Asian Winter Games in 2029, it is eyeing the Football World Cup in 2030 and, ultimately, the Olympic Games. “If Saudi Arabia wants to organize the World Cup and achieve a better result than Qatar (three defeats in as many matches in 2022, editor’s note), it must create a real footballing culture”, indicates Lukas Aubin. And, more broadly, “a sports culture”, supports David Rigoulet-Roze. “With the idea of creating vocations but also a sporting practice. And that sport becomes attractive for Saudis.”
And the Saudi football authorities do not intend to stop there since the former captain of the Blues Hugo Lloris is one of the targets of the Al-Hilal club which, according to The Times would have offered nearly 450,000 euros per month to the Tottenham porter. If Lionel Messi seems rather to take the direction of Inter Miami, the names of Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos, Angel Di Maria or even Romelu Lukaku are regularly mentioned. What give a proud look to a shadow championship, propelled into full light.