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Image caption: Saudi Arabia has attracted some of the biggest football stars in the world<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Al Hilal club is Saudi Arabia\u2019s most decorated football team having won 66 trophies. They have also won the AFC Champions League a record four times, making the Riyadh-based club the most successful team in Asia.<\/p>\n
Despite its impressive history, for many supporters, 19 August 2023 marked the beginning of a new era for the club when Neymar Junior was unveiled in front of more than 65,000 ecstatic fans.<\/p>\n
A volley of fireworks, followed by a drone show projecting Neymar\u2019s face, lit up Riyadh\u2019s sky as the Brazilian forward walked onto the pitch wearing the club\u2019s traditional dark blue kit.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt is a very special day for us. Neymar is a megastar. He will bring in a lot of fans to Al Hilal. I think the whole of Brazil will support us now. The club will be known everywhere,\u201d Al Hilal fan Abdullah Almutawa told the BBC, who came to witness the ceremony.<\/p>\n The ambitious project to make Saudi Arabia an international football hub started with\u00a0the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr in January\u00a0on a two-and-a-half-year deal said to be worth over $400m (\u00a3318m or 370m euros) in wages.<\/p>\n This opened the floodgates for a jaw-dropping summer transfer window with the Saudi league\u00a0snapping up some of the biggest names in the sport. Karim Benzema was the next big signing in June when he moved to Jeddah-based Al Ittihad from Real Madrid.<\/p>\n Since then, a host of prominent names including Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Jordan Henderson, and N\u2019Golo Kante, have swapped European leagues for the Saudi Pro League.<\/p>\n During the summer, the Saudi Pro League spent more than $900m on transfer fees to acquire foreign players, making it the second-highest spender after the English Premier League. The figure does not include the eye-watering salaries offered to lure players primarily from top European leagues.<\/p>\n And this is not a one-off splash, according to the league\u2019s chief operating officer, Carlo Nohra. The Saudi Arabian government has given a commitment to financially back the league until it achieves its goal of becoming one of the top leagues in the world in terms of revenues and quality.<\/p>\n The Saudi Pro League aims to compete with the likes of the English Premier League, and La Liga.<\/p>\n Mr Nohra says they will continue spending big to attract foreign players until the league achieves its objective, but it is also simultaneously working towards unlocking the commercial value that\u2019s on offer.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we have the commitment of getting support until however long it takes to achieve our goals, it is important for us to make ourselves commercially viable so that we are responsible for our own financial growth and not completely dependent on government capital,\u201d Mr Nohra told the BBC.<\/p>\n Soft power<\/p>\n The world\u2019s biggest oil exporter has invested billions of dollars in sports, including revamping the Saudi Pro League, Formula One and the lucrative LIV Golf.<\/p>\n Some critics have described it as \u201csportswashing\u201d to distract people from its poor human rights record.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia has attracted some of the biggest football stars in the world<\/em><\/p>\n But some experts believe that managing image and reputation is not the only reason behind Saudi Arabia\u2019s strategy. According to Simon Chadwick, professor of Sport and Geopolitical Economy at Skema Business School in Paris, \u201cnations across the world used sports and entertainment as a policy tool to project soft power\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one element of a policy armoury that Saudi Arabia is currently deploying. We are talking about a contest between nations to win the hearts and minds of people globally. Britain, the United States, France, India and so many other countries have implemented this policy. Now the Saudis are doing the same,\u201d adds Prof Chadwick<\/p>\n The second key objective behind Saudi Arabia\u2019s spending spree is that it is part of a broader push to reinvent its economy before oil revenues start dwindling. Currently, they make up for more than 40% of the Saudi gross domestic product, or GDP.<\/p>\n Sports is one of the main pillars of the government\u2019s Vision 2030 project driven by the kingdom\u2019s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The economic diversification programme is focused on reducing the country\u2019s reliance on fossil fuel revenues by building new industries and generating jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the objectives is to deliver entertainment for the Saudi population as part of Vision 2030 and at the same time, also develop local talent that would enhance the level of the Saudi Pro League in the long run,\u201d says Mr Nohra.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia is a football-loving nation with 80% of the population either playing, watching, or following the sport. It is still early to judge whether these bold investments will pay off, but the strategy has demonstrated the Gulf nation\u2019s strong desire to become a football powerhouse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-558.png\")
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