Sportswashing or Investment? This Is How Saudi Money Changes the Balance of Global Sports

Saudi Arabia may have failed to attract Argentina captain Lionel Messi, but the loud and grand welcome of French star Karim Benzema and the sudden merger that stunned the world of golf strongly highlighted the extent of the sporting ambitions of the oil-rich Gulf kingdom.

On its part, The New York Times revealed that basketball and tennis are the two new sports that Saudi Arabia is seeking to invest in during the coming period.

The Kingdom stormed the sports scene strongly during the past years through the purchase of Newcastle Club and its professional success in England, and hosting international sporting events such as Formula 1 races, wrestling shows such as Crown Jewel, the Spanish Super Cup and the Italian Super Cup, in addition to promoting its National Football League with international stars.

In many ways, the Saudi league looks like the Chinese league that has emerged over the past decade after its clubs paid huge transfer fees to buy players from Europe and give them good salaries. Although the idea of turning China into a global football giant failed in the end, Saudi Arabia sees itself differently.

The Kingdom has always been harshly criticized by human rights organizations regarding the so-called sports washing. However, Riyadh strongly denies these charges and confirms that its investment in sports is an essential part of the vision of the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to diversify sources of income away from oil.

 

Sportswashing or Investment?

The Saudi Football League has become an attraction for big stars from Europe, as the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr Club at the end of last year, Al-Ittihad Club also recently signed a contract with French Karim Benzema, Real Madrid’s top scorer, and his compatriot N’Golo Kante, a Chelsea midfielder, while Al-Hilal Club signed a contract with Portuguese striker Robin Neves from Wolves.

Press speculation indicates that Senegalese defender Kalidou Coulibaly will soon transfer to Al-Hilal Club from Chelsea, and Al-Ahli Club reached a preliminary agreement with Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from Chelsea.

Al-Hilal Club is trying to include Portuguese Bernardo Silva from Manchester City, while Al-Ahli Club seeks to sign Algerian Riyad Mahrez from Manchester City, and Al-Nassr Club wants to include Moroccan Hakim Ziyech from Chelsea to its ranks.

This huge Saudi spending in the global transfer market for football players comes after the government included the 4 largest local clubs in the ownership of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).

This was the same investment fund that led the acquisition of English club Newcastle United in 2021. In the first year under the new management, the club was able to reach the Champions League after an absence of 20 years.

Without the complications of the world of finance and investment, this step means that the PIF, which controls assets worth $650 billion, is the leader of the Saudi League development project and is responsible for Saudi policies in the world of football.

On June 2, The New York Times revealed that the Saudi sports plan enjoys support from the highest levels in the country and that the Saudi authorities are seeking to attract more famous players, and that they have allocated more than $20 billion for this.

Western media criticized the wealthy Gulf kingdom after it entered the global transfer market strongly with the aim of supporting the Roshn Saudi Pro League (SPL) with Super Star players.

The Independent newspaper said that Saudi funds turned the transfer window into chaos after a number of English clubs postponed their plans in the market, describing Saudi Arabia’s entry into the global transfer market as influential.

Despite the attractive offers made by Saudi clubs to lure in many big names in the world of football, some of these bids were rejected. Among the first to refuse to go to the SPL was the Argentine Lionel Messi, in addition to the German Ilkay Gundogan, the Polish Robert Lewandowski, and the Croatian Luka Modric.

On June 18, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said that European football should not fear the exodus of one or more players to Saudi clubs, pointing out that Riyadh is making a mistake by investing in buying stars while they are at the end of their football career.

“It’s mainly a mistake for Saudi Arabian football. They should invest in academies, bring their own coaches and develop their own players,” he told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

“The system of buying players that are almost at the end of their career is not the system that develops football. It was a similar mistake in China when they all brought players who are at the end of their career,” he added.

It is noteworthy that what happened in China is that its Premier League began working on its development by direct order from the president, as he said that he wanted to host the World Cup, form a good national team and develop the local league.

Ivorian player Didier Drogba was one of the first to join the Chinese League in 2012, as clubs there bought strikers from Europe, such as French Nicolas Anelka, Italian Fabio Cannavaro, Argentine Carlos Tevez, and Brazilians Oscar and Hulk. It also signed veteran coaches such as Italian Fabio Capello and Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari.

But, after that, the Chinese Communist Party changed its mind, and it did not like the plan to spend huge amounts of money on players coming from Europe, and decided to end this situation last year, establishing rules to control the number of foreign players that may be in the National League.

“The Premier League should put an instant embargo on transfers to Saudi Arabia to ensure the integrity of the game isn’t being damaged,” ex-Manchester United player Gary Neville told BBC Sport earlier last week.

Neville questioned the appropriateness of Saudi financial transactions, as a result of which many football stars are transferred to the Saudi League.

Ex-Liverpool star and current sports analyst Jamie Carragher also entered the line of criticism directed at Riyadh after he expressed his concern about the SPL deals.

Carragher said on Twitter that he was concerned about Saudi Arabia’s ability to strike deals with players at the peak of their careers.

“I wasn’t worried about the Saudi League taking players in their 30’s, a touch worried with players below the elite (Neves) but if this happens it feels like a game changer,” he added.

The former English player alluded to politics, saying, “Saudi have taken over golf, the big Boxing fights and now they want to take over football!! This Sportswashing needs to be stopped!”

The tweet of the ex-Liverpool player sparked widespread controversy, as some of the tweeters asked what European clubs had done to Latin American clubs by contracting with the best players in those leagues for large sums of money.

Others criticized what the English clubs did to the rest of the European leagues, such as the Italian League, by attracting its stars because of the financial superiority of the English clubs over their Italian counterparts.

One of the tweeters wrote a comment in which he said: “Sportswashing is allowed if the player is over thirty years old,” in a sarcastic reference to what Carragher wrote.

 

Influential Force

But it’s not just football. On the same day that the Saudis announced the grand football plan, they also rocked the world of golf.

In an impressive deal signed on June 6, the PIF-funded LIV Golf, the American PGA Tour, and the European DP World Tour became partners in a new for-profit business.

In mid-June, The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Senate had opened an extensive investigation into the financial issues related to the deal, noting that this investigation is the latest in a series of actions by Congress that could threaten the status of the PGA Tour league as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization in the United States.

On the other hand, The New York Times described the new partnership as a major victory for Saudi ambitions and its endeavors to be an influential force in global sports.

On its part, Bloomberg said that the deal paves the way for the rise of a superpower in the world of golf, referring to the role of the governor of the PIF, Yasir al-Rumayyan, in convincing officials of the American tour that everyone’s interest lies in uniting efforts, not in competition.

The agency described al-Rumayyan, who will head the new entity, as a passionate golfer, noting his positions as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Aramco and Newcastle United in the English Premier League.

The report considered that the recent deal was a shock to the followers, especially after PGA Tour and DP World took steps to prevent the participation of players who joined LIV Golf.

The agency believed that the golf deal is more than just a sports deal because it symbolizes Biden’s desire to abandon his pledge to make Saudi Arabia face the consequences of its human rights violations, and it suggests the idea that foreign powers exercise soft power over the United States, and not the other way around.

Amnesty International expressed concern at what it saw as a further attempt by Saudi Arabia to launder its human rights record through the vehicle of sport.

“While this may have taken some golf fans and commentators by surprise, it’s really just more evidence of the onward march of Saudi sportswashing,” Amnesty UK’s Felix Jakens said.

“It’s been clear for some time that Saudi Arabia was prepared to use vast amounts of money to muscle its way into top-tier golf—just part of a wider effort to become a major sporting power and to try to distract attention from the country’s atrocious human rights record,” he added.

 

Saudi Endeavors

According to a report published by The Athletic website, Saudi Arabia supported itself with its national team’s 2-1 victory in the group stage of the World Cup finals over Argentina—which eventually clinched the title—and before that, it bought the English club Newcastle United and reached the Champions League qualification card for the year 2023-2024.

It indicated that Saudi Arabia uses sports as a means to assert itself in the world, in light of the presence of a wide fan base for football in the country, where 70% of its population is under the age of 35.

“Whether it is a form of sportswashing to divert attention from an appalling human rights record or to diversify the country’s income away from fossil fuels and boost its global standing, the result is the same,” the report states.

It believes that “while many will be frustrated by the inflated salaries that Saudi clubs seem determined to distribute, there will be others who view this as a way to offload unwanted players.”

The report indicated that “what helps Saudi Arabia achieve its goal is the lack of application of the fair financial play policy there, so clubs will not be interested in complying with the rules that restrict what their European counterparts can spend, as their summer transfer begins in June and ends in September.”

Several brokers have told The Athletic that they are trying to build relationships with clubs in Saudi Arabia, where some believe they can double their player salaries and secure long-term contracts.

It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia has hosted many international sporting events over the past years, such as: Formula 1, the Spanish Super Cup (4 times), the Italian Super Cup (twice), the international marathon (twice), the Extreme E 2022 race for electric SUVs, in addition to hosting the International Handball Federation Men’s Super Globe (3 times).

Meanwhile, FIFA was forced to drop support for the Visit Saudi Foundation’s plans to sponsor the Women’s World Cup after a backlash from hosts Australia and New Zealand, along with the players, over the proposed deal.

The International Cricket Council has also faced questions over a multi-million-dollar partnership with the world’s largest oil exporter—state energy company Saudi Aramco—reinforcing concerns about the sport’s links with the fossil fuel industry.

Earlier this year, the PIF was reported to be exploring a $20 billion bid to buy the entire Formula 1 race. There were rumors of similar moves in tennis.

Next December, Saudi Arabia will host the FIFA Club World Cup—the first time it has organized a major FIFA event—in addition to hosting the 2027 AFC Asian Cup and the 2029 Asian Winter Games.