(cue the desert music)
The well is drying up. Those who were enticed into joining the Saudi Pro League are regretting their decisions. Jordan Henderson, Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino, the lot. But why? Wasn’t the money enough to keep their mouths shut? Let’s see.
Saudi Arabia is not known for football. They’ve not produced any talent, nor do they have any significant wins. But they have money. Tons of (oil) money. So what do they do with this money? Buy their way into football.
First they started with clubs, Saudi Arabia bought Newcastle United in 2021, and have taken a 75% stake in the big 3 saudi clubs Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Hilal. You can see the effect it had on Newcastle in the 22-23 season. They got 4th($) place in the Premier League, which got them to the UCL after over 20 years. But they didn’t just spend on clubs. The main factor is the Player$.
On the players. They dumped tons of $ into them. Sign all the big names. CR7? Check. Benzema? Check. Neymar? Check. We have a lot more, but the focal points are on some other players. Perhaps one of the main poster boys of this campaign is CR7 himself. He was the 1st person to sign for the RSL(Saudi Pro League) for $500M, and is actively buttering it up. Calling this league “better than the french league” and whatnot. But not everyone is happy.
Jordan Henderson, who wanted to grow the sport in Saudi Arabia, reportedly left the league and signed for Ajax instead. Karim Benzema is looking to go to Europe again, and Chelsea could sign him. Roberto Firmino has some rumours of a deal in the EPL again after not starting his last 7 games. This fall is for these reasons:
The Fans. Even with all these big signings, the league has a poor attendance rate, and the culture hasn’t really developed. Most stadiums are pretty empty in most lower position matches.
The Culture. Not everyone that signed is muslim or arab, so they naturally have a culture shock. They aren’t very used to their women being not allowed to go out alone, aren’t used to being deprived of alcohol, they aren’t used to LGBTQ rights being non-existent, censorship, freedom, etc.
Heat. 40 degrees??? Drought land??? Can’t really be physical here.
International Risk. The sub-heading sounds a bit geopolitical as if Saudi can get in trouble for their actions, but in reality, if the players go to Saudi, they are seen as falling off, not deserving any international duty. Plus, Europe's pretty far from the Middle east.
So that’s how and why these $$$ player$ wants to leave their “beloved” Saudi Arabia, and why they want to go back to their comfort zone.
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