Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal Announces Ownership Transfer of Major Saudi Football Clubs in Investment & Privatization Project

sports

The Saudi Minister of Sports, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, announced the transfer of ownership of 4 major clubs, “Al-Ittihad”, “Al-Ahly”, “Al-Nasr” and “Al-Hilal” to the Saudi Public Investment Fund, by 75%, as part of the investment and privatization project for sports clubs.

The ownership of Al-Qadisiyah Club will also be transferred to Saudi Aramco. As well as the “Diriyah” club to the “Diriyah Gate Development Authority”, the “Al-Ula” club to the “Royal Commission for Al-Ula” and the “Falcons” club to the Saudi “NEOM” company.

The Kingdom is looking to attract some of the most famous footballers in the world to join Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Professional League (Roshen League). To achieve this, Saudi clubs are already trying to sign players through deals that could cost the clubs, according to The New York Times, about $1 billion to cover the wages of about 20 foreign players.

Many local and international reports indicated that the French “Real Madrid” legend Karim Benzema signed with the Saudi club “Al-Ittihad” in exchange for an offer worth 200 million euros over two seasons.

The newspapers also indicate that Lionel Messi, who led Argentina to the World Cup title in Qatar, may join Al-Hilal club with a deal that is likely to be higher than Ronaldo’s deal with Al-Ittihad, as the Portuguese receives a salary of 200 million euros per year over two seasons. .

List of the most valuable leagues in Asia and Australia

Source: transfermarket

According to “Transfermarket”, the Saudi Professional League tops the list of the most valuable leagues in Asia and Australia, with 324.25 million euros. It is followed by the UAE Professional League (296.37 million euros) and then the Japanese First Division (275.41 million euros). The Indonesian First Division comes in tenth place with a value of 71.64 million euros.

Most Valuable Asian Clubs

Source: transfermarket

In terms of clubs, Saudi Arabia constitutes 50% of the list of the “ten most valuable clubs” within the Asian Football Confederation. At the top of the pyramid, the Saudi “Al-Nasr” comes with a market value of 80.45 million euros, more than double the value of the “Sharjah” club in the UAE League, which ranks second.

The list also includes “Al-Hilal”, “Al-Shabab”, “Al-Ittifaq” and “Al-Ittihad” in the third, fourth, eighth and ninth places, respectively.

In this context, the Saudi Minister of Sports stated that the privatization will raise the market value of the local league to more than 8 billion riyals.

According to the latest data from “Transfermarket”, the value of the four clubs that will transfer 75% of their ownership to the Saudi Public Investment Fund is 163.83 million euros.

Deputy Governor of the Public Investment Fund and Head of the General Department of Investments in the Middle East and North Africa, Yazid Al-Hamid, said that the launch of the investment and privatization project for sports clubs in Saudi Arabia will contribute to strengthening the role of the sports economy in the transformation process led by the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

Al-Homaid added that the project will contribute to achieving a quantum leap in the sports sector, by creating attractive investment opportunities in this sector.

According to people familiar with the matter, according to The New York Times, it is the league officials, not the clubs, that will negotiate with the players about their transfer to play in Saudi Arabia and will assign players to specific clubs, in a model similar to the one used by the American Football League previously.

The New York Times added, “The goal is to attract the four largest clubs in Saudi Arabia, three senior foreign players each, and to distribute eight other players to the remaining 12 clubs in the league.”

The Kingdom is among the largest spenders on the sports sector globally in recent years, as the Public Investment Fund acquired, two years ago, Newcastle United, one of the clubs in the English Premier League.

The club managed to achieve its best league achievement in decades and is expected to play in the Champions League next season.

The Saudi oil company, Aramco, is the main sponsor of the Formula 1 motor racing series. The fund has also poured billions into golf to create the LIV Championship, the PGA Tour’s rival in North America and Europe.

Read also