The top players of the European leagues are attracted to the Saudi Arabian football league with unimaginable salary offers.
Former Real Madrid star, French, signed with Al-Ittihad Karim Benzema Earns up to 200 million euros per year, according to media reports. Among other things, Benzema’s salary includes serving as an ambassador for the 2030 men’s soccer World Cup, which Saudi Arabia is aiming for.
The Frenchman who previously represented Chelsea N’Golo Kante will join the same club as Benzema. Kante’s estimated salary is 100 million euros per year, which includes photo and advertising rights and a portfolio of securities.
In addition to the aforementioned, Wolverhampton cleared the largest transfer fee in its club history, 55 million euros, from Al-Hilal. Wolves’ Portuguese captain Ruben Neves goes to Saudi Arabia with Benzema, Kante and his compatriots Cristiano Ronaldo as a result.
Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Helsinki Hannu Juusola says the salary amounts are absurd.
– Sports fees have been high for a long time at this competitive level, but these salaries clearly take it to a new level. Saudi Arabia has made huge investments, which will certainly affect the nature of the sport, Juusola estimates.
However, according to him, the sums are not huge for PIF, whose wealth is in an excellent position for such investments thanks to oil money. PIF or Public Investmend Fund is Saudi Arabia’s state investment fund.
– It is a body that is under the direct control of the state’s political leadership. They can do whatever they want with it without being controlled. They also want to make PIF an internationally visible actor.
Nowadays, the fund is controlled by the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. PIF finances, among other things, golf’s LIV tour and formula one. It also recently took control of four clubs in the country’s football league: Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli.
Read also: PIF has already messed up the sports world, but the future is just dizzying – this is what it’s all about in a fund that covets assets of two trillion
Can a top player move to Saudi Arabia?
Why do the stars of European fields move to play in authoritarian states that commit human rights violations? For example, the Saudi Arabian regime executed between 2015 and 2022 an average of 129.5 people annually.
Are “western stars” not allowed to move to these countries to play?
According to Professor Juusola, the question is good. He believes that the background influences, for example, the fact that Western countries perceive these countries as competitors. For decades, elite sports have been the business of Western countries.
The ethical and moral disapproval of sports players has a long history, but it seems to emerge from time to time. Juusola estimates that the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China were not yet a big moral issue.
– Little by little, there has been a demand that moral elements should be more strongly associated with sports.
He states that it is easy for an individual athlete ending his professional career to say that playing in Saudi Arabia is immoral. At the same time, several Western countries are making even more problematic cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Juusola reminds.
Read also: Why do Finland and Saudi Arabia meet each other now every week? We asked why the country is of interest to Finland right now
So what is the responsibility of the individual athlete? Executive director of the Football Players’ Association (JPY). Panu Autio notes that athletes have a really good chance to make a responsible impact.
– And that has been seen to an increasing extent in recent years. For example, there are good examples of that in Finland, says Autio.
Among other things, football players Riku Riski and Tim Sparv have taken a strong stand on, for example, human rights ethical issues.
– On the other hand, I also think that athletes should have a certain freedom to focus on the sport, and they don’t have to comment on every issue. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you have to close your eyes to the world, Autio continues.
Autio believes that ethical and moral issues are discussed much more critically in sports than in many other fields. You can listen to Auti’s thoughts below.
Top players have moved from Europe to the football leagues of authoritarian countries before.
However, the critical discussion has intensified in the next few years and it seems that Saudi Arabia has ended up being an eye candy. Autio estimates that the connection between sports and society and politics is seen more clearly than before.
– I guess awareness is only growing, and for example these human rights issues have come into more discussion. It is no longer the case that sports and politics are completely separate things, says Autio.
Finns have also played in countries labeled as authoritarian. Joel Pohjanpalo succeeded in the 2021–22 season in Turkey, Sebastian Strandvall excelled in the 2015–16 season in Iran, and 10 years ago Panu Autio did well in Russia’s tough futsal league.
Read also: The captain of the Vaasa Palloseura, Sebastian Strandvall, stood up to defend his Iranian teammate, who may be threatened with the death penalty
According to Autio, there has not been a direct discussion with the Finnish players about how a transfer to, for example, an authoritarian state affects the player’s image. Autio states, like Professor Hannu Juusola, that moral questions are now a trend in sports.
– When Seba (Strandvall) left for Iran, the world was very different. When I played in Russia, the world was very different, but it changed a lot during that time too.
JPY has its own role when an individual player is thinking about a transfer to a new club. The players are told, for example, about the legislation concerning employees in different countries.
Autio believes that when a player receives a contract offer, he thinks about the whole package: how can he develop as a player, what can he learn and how can he advance his career? Money also plays an important role.
– A professional career – i.e. the years when you can make money playing – is so short. When you get to the end of your career, how much money you get from the contract weighs more in the scales. The player will surely also think about what it is like to live in that country. And if there is, for example, a family, let’s think about how the family adapts and has a good time.
Is Saudi Arabia’s influence in football growing?
Professor Hannu Juusola believes that Saudi Arabia wants to develop the level of its country’s football league, at least in that sense, because it aims to host the 2030 men’s World Cup.
– Qatar’s example was certainly interesting from their point of view, and the competition for visibility affects here. The 2030 Games are on their minds, and Saudi Arabia has a lot of money to invest in the campaign.
Saudi Arabia is applying for the Games together with Egypt and Greece, but the countries’ offer has not yet been accepted. If the World Cup were held in the aforementioned countries, the tournament would probably be played again during the European winter.
Fifa has accepted the joint tournament organizer bid of both the South American Football Confederation and the European and African confederations. The South American games would be played in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. The confederation’s competitions are again in Spain, Portugal, Ukraine and Morocco.
The World Cup could bring Saudi Arabia a boost in tourism, among other things.
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Secretary General of the Finnish Football Association Marco Casagrande feels that the influence of, for example, Saudi Arabia, China or Qatar in football has not grown significantly in recent years.
– For example, more people from these countries have not been elected to the boards of international football associations than before.
There are often discussions about who will apply for the position of club or national team competition organizer, says Casagrande. For example, the aforementioned countries are actively seeking them.
– Then we discuss whether the countries are able to offer the kind of conditions or partnerships that are attractive for Fifa, for example.
Casagrande sees two sides in Saudi Arabia’s financial investments. The good thing is that money is invested in football. It’s bad again if the competitive balance is disturbed.
– If an operator has completely unlimited funds, of course you have to think about how the use of money is regulated. If some entity, be it the state or a state-owned club, acquires the 30 best players in the world, there is no idea in the competition.
Casagrande says that competitive balance is a recurring topic in football at the moment. For example, the Union of European Professional Football Leagues according to the sport’s competitive situation is skewed.
Is football’s reputation suffering?
Are the financial investments of authoritarian states a detriment to football’s image? Both Autio, Casagrande and Juusola believe that football romantics can find the current development boring.
Player’s association Autio says that many would certainly wish the players to end their careers at their beloved club, and money would not be the factor that ultimately determines a new address.
– However, that’s how the world often goes. There is a lot of room for improvement in international football in many areas – starting with Fifa’s good governance.
Casagrande of the Finnish Football Association reminds that the countries representing the Western or Nordic worldview are a small part of, for example, Fifa’s member countries.
– In the opinion of some, everything related to, for example, Arab countries is harmful, but we are only one part of this world. There are 15-20 countries in Fifa that think in the way we are familiar with, but 90 percent of the member countries feel things very differently.
Professor Juusola believes that the development underlines the fact that football is not a traditional sport bound to local identity or team tradition, but a very large part of it is international business.
– Of course, the fact that these states, which are now significantly present, have repeatedly violated human rights. It certainly won’t improve the reputation.