The Saudi Pro League kicks off on Friday amid unprecedented attention on Saudi football following a year of high-profile transfers and growing accusations of “sportswashing”.
Clubs in the oil-rich Gulf state have lured global stars, with Karim Benzema, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane among those following in Cristiano Ronaldo’s footsteps.
Last month Al-Hilal made a 300-million-euro ($328 million) bid for Kylian Mbappe, though the Paris Saint-Germain striker reportedly refused to meet with officials from the club.
Eighteen clubs will take part in the league, with each allowed eight foreign players. “Saudi Arabia aspires to be like the English Premier League,” said Simon Chadwick, professor of Sport and Geopolitical Economy at Skema Business School in Paris.
“The media is paying attention,” he told AFP. “I’m aware of people now asking the question: where can I watch the Saudi Pro League?”.
Just five years after allowing its first non-Muslim tourists and letting women drive, Saudi Arabia is attempting to open up its conservative, long-cloistered society to the world.
The world’s biggest oil exporter has thrown hundreds of millions at sports deals including Ronaldo’s capture, Formula One in Jeddah and the lucrative LIV Golf tour, drawing frequent claims it is “sportswashing” its human rights record.
It is all part of grand plans by the de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to modernise the Saudi economy and remove its reliance on oil before the world moves on to other fuels.
Moqbel Al-Zabni, editor-in-chief of the Saudi capital’s Al Riyadiah newspaper said that the king-dom wants “the compass of professional football to point to the Middle East and the Arab world”.
