Over the summer, high-profile names such as Karim Benzema, Jordan Henderson and Riyad Mahrez have swapped European club football in favor of the Saudi Arabian top division.
Sports director Sebastian Kehl at the German big club Borussia Dortmund fears that large transfer fees and lucrative contracts could be harmful to football.
– It is simply not possible to explain the enormous sums that are paid. They change the market and make it more difficult to trade. If it continues in this way, it will do great damage, warns Kehl in an interview with German Kicker.
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Five big clubs
Mainly, it is the clubs Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, Al-Ettifaq and Al-Nassr that have attracted international world stars this summer.
Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo really started the flow of players when he signed for Al-Nassr in December. This summer, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Real Madrid have all sold players to Saudi Arabia.
Dortmund has for a number of years been known for developing young talents, then selling the players on for large sums. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jadon Sancho (Manchester United) and Erling Braut Haaland (Manchester City) are among the names that have generated large sums for the German club in the last couple of years.
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Criticism
Transfers to the money-rich league in Saudi Arabia have been criticized several times and called sports laundering. Ronaldo’s transfer in December caused Amnesty, among others, to react.
“The purchase is part of the state’s attempt to strengthen its own reputation and divert attention away from the human rights violations,” Amnesty wrote on X, formerly Twitter, when the transition became clear.
The Saudi Arabian investment fund PIF, which already owns the Premier League club Newcastle, took over the majority of shares in the clubs Al-Nassr, al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal in June.
(©NTB)
2023-08-01 07:04:20
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