Saudi Arabia spent almost a billion euros on football transfers in 2023 alone, bringing superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar into the domestic Saudi Pro League. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The fact that Gulf states are investing in sport is nothing new. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been practicing this for years. But the year 2023 will still mark a turning point, said Stanis Elsborg from the Danish organization “Play the Game” on Deutschlandfunk. “At least in view of the fact that in Saudi Arabia we have a new, politically important player who is investing a lot of money in world sport.”
Saudi Arabia is a “completely different dimension” than Qatar
Compared to Qatar, for example, Saudi investments are on a “completely different dimension,” said Elsborg. On the one hand, Saudi Arabia is much more important in the region than Qatar: “They are generally much more powerful in international politics. That’s why it’s a new dimension when they start investing in sport.”
On the other hand, no country has ever pumped so much money into sport. “We’ve seen something similar from China, Russia, a little bit from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but never to this extent. And we’ve never experienced the kind of political support we have now in Saudi Arabia.”
In Saudi Arabia, as in most autocratically ruled countries, there is no difference between sport and politics, said Elsborg. “The same people who govern Saudi Arabia also decide in the sports associations, in the Ministry of Sports and where the money for sports comes from. That’s why it’s not about sports, but about Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical agenda.”
Sports focus moves towards the Middle East
This will change the sport in the coming years. The focus will move more towards the Middle East. “The 2034 World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia. They will also host the Asian Winter Games in 2029 and also the Asian Summer Games in 2034, the same year as the World Cup. Saudi Arabia will be the big player in the next decade. They are just starting “You’ll be investing in many more sporting events in the coming years.”
In general, Elsborg does not think it is objectionable if Saudi Arabia or other autocratically ruled countries host sporting events. Hosting these events just needs to be subject to the right conditions, he said.
Here he takes the associations to task: “If FIFA or the IOC really believe that human rights are a prerequisite for being able to host one of their events, they would have to take it much more seriously. Because if they took human rights seriously, I think “I don’t think Saudi Arabia would be allowed to host the World Cup given the current human rights situation in the country.”
From a European perspective, Elsborg believes that leading sports officials should take the values they often propagate, such as human rights and democracy, much more seriously. “But the problem is that the leading officials in major associations like FIFA or the IOC are very closely linked to autocrats like Mohammed Bin-Salman or the Emir of Qatar. Just five or six years ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin was the big player World sport.”
Sport can bring about change if used correctly
IOC President Thomas Bach recently described sport as a “force for good” that could bring about positive change in countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. An empty phrase, says Elsborg. “This statement is used to justify sports policy decisions because officials are not using the sport the way they could use it.”
He believes that sport can be a catalyst for change: “But sport also has to implement it and that has never happened before. We had the Summer Olympics in China in 2008, we had the Winter Games in China in 2022. And in relation to the regime “The situation in China has actually gotten worse, on freedom of expression and on human rights. Things have also gotten worse in Russia.”
Something similar will probably happen in Saudi Arabia: “We will probably see that freedom of expression and human rights will be further restricted. Because now that they are organizing the big sporting events, you can no longer talk about the dirty laundry in the country. Sport can be a force for good, but the major sports organizations have never used it to do so.”