Difficult to fight against clichés, especially when they are maintained with such zeal. A Saudi real estate magnate did not hesitate to spend 2.6 million dollars (2.4 million euros) to attend this Thursday at the King-Fahd stadium in Riyadh (68,000 spectators) the “peanut match between a selection of players from Al-Nassr and Al Hilal against PSG.
Or rather, between Cristiano Ronaldo, the star paid for at the price of an aircraft carrier by Al-Nassr, and the brand new world champion Lionel Messi, both financed by Qatar via his club, and by Saudi Arabia , through the tourist office of which he is a figurehead. On this subject, we invite you to look at promo clips where Leo doesn’t really look like Leo (voice, special effects?). End of parenthesis.
sports bulimia
If the meeting does not bring anything to the sporting glory of the Parisian club, it will still bring him more than 10 million euros in the coffers. The gala poster ended up sold out just a few minutes after the tickets went on sale according to ESPN, which mentions… 2 million online requests!!! It adds to a slew of past or future sporting events organized by the Saudi regime, from the takeover of Newcastle to the candidacy for the 2030 World Cup, including the organization of an F1 Grand Prix or the ubiquitous Asian Winter Games, scheduled for 2029.
This hyperactivity illustrates the new policy driven by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, strongman of the kingdom since 2017. To the point of giving an image of artificiality which does not however completely correspond to reality.
“There is a very big football culture in Saudi Arabia, testifies geopolitical researcher Raphaël Le Magoariec, specialist in the Arabian Peninsula. However, the new image that the States of the region wanted to promote through their “soft power” policy gives the impression that everything is new in sporting terms, as in Qatar, Dubai or Abu Dhabi. However, I attended several derbies which fill the stadiums and have nothing to envy to the European atmospheres. »
Jeddah and Riyadh, historic strongholds
As elsewhere in the world, football was first established in a port, in this case that of Jeddah on the Red Sea, where the clubs of Al-Ittihad (in 1927) then Al -Ahli (in 1937, today in D2). At first wary of foreign influences, the capital Riyadh ended up giving in to the charms of the number 1 sport and spawning Al-Nassr (created in 1955) then Al-Hilal (in 1957), rivals meeting this Thursday against the PSG.
And the craze only grew at the end of the 20th century. “The Saudi state has developed around political and religious power,” continues Raphaël Le Magoariec. The religious, conservative front gained strength in the 1980s. This greatly restricted entertainment venues and the stadium emerged as one of the escape routes for male youth. »
The Jeddah and Riyadh derbies can thus bring together more than 60,000 people, as Hervé Renard points out. in an interview on RMC Sport. “Even when we played against Japan or China, there were 60,000 spectators, adds the French coach of the only team to have beaten Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar. It is a great football country, little known in Europe and throughout the world since its national team has never managed to perform very well. »
In six participations in a World Cup, the Falcons only reached the round of 16 in their first, in the United States in 1994. An epic marked by the incredible victorious ride of Saeed Al-Owairan against Belgium ( 1-0). But clubs have often shone in the Asian Champions League, such as Al-Hilal, the country’s most successful club (four victories, including 2019 and 2021), or Al-Ittihad, which conquered the C1 in 2004 and 2005. “Al -Ittihad, if you are going to play for them, there are 55,000 people at each match, it is OM from Saudi Arabia, ”assures Frenchman Thibault Peyre, from Martigues.
A two-speed championship
Passed by the TFC and Lille, the 30-year-old defender joined Al-Batin, current red lantern, at the end of December of Saudi Pro League, after nine seasons in Belgium. His new training is based in a city of 400,000 inhabitants in the northeast of the country, not far from the borders with Kuwait and Iraq. Al-Batin has just challenged Al-Ittihad, after moving to Al-Feiha.
“It’s a second part club of the table equivalent to mine, in the middle of the desert, you make about 2,000 people in a 3,000-seat stadium”, explains the newcomer, who had to live with local customs. : “the Saudis go to bed at 3-4 a.m. and get up at noon-1 p.m.”
These words illustrate a two-speed championship, but called to grow at exponential speed, assures Peyre. “I haven’t been here long but I see how it’s going. They have money and there is enthusiasm. My Croatian coach [Alen Horvat] He has been evolving for eight years in the Gulf and he notably coached Al-Nassr. After the match at Al-Feiha, he took the foreigners aside: we also have a Uruguayan goalkeeper and striker, a Brazilian defender, two Colombian midfielders and another Ghanaian. He said to us: “guys, stay in this championship, it will become a crazy championship. I know that Luka Modric will sign at Al-Nassr! » »
Messi and other stars courted in turn
The 2018 Golden Ball will not be too out of place, since it has come every year for three years with Real Madrid to compete in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, which has obtained the organization of the semi-finals and the final until 2029.
“Next year, a lot of people will come here, and the following season even more, continues the former central back from Mechelen. Great Spanish, Italian, French, German players…” Not a day goes by without a star name, often well into his thirties, being linked to a Saudi club, starting with Lionel Messi with Al Hilal. If he gives in to the very rich sirens of the Riyadh club, the Argentine would walk in the footsteps of his old rival CR7, but also, going back in the past, in those of Rivelino, Bebeto, Stoitchkov or Donadoni.
A long-term plan
The quota of foreign players per club will increase next season from seven to eight, and the first division will swell from 16 to 18 teams. This planned expansion is part of the “Vision 2030” plan driven by the omnipotent Mohammed bin Salman, who wanted to give a more liberal image of a country despite a relative concern for human rights, illustrated by the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and environmental topics.
“It’s about revitalizing the economic system based on oil revenue, deciphers Raphaël Le Magoariec. Saudi Arabia wants to create a still untapped market, that of entertainment. Until now, it was its religious “soft power” which was the most dynamic at the international level. The country is adopting a new language of international relations. »
The geographical and demographic giant of the region (2.15 million km², i.e. four times the size of France, for 34 million inhabitants) is following in the footsteps of its small Qatari neighbour, with which it has made a spectacular rapprochement after having imposed on it an almost total blockade between 2017 and 2021. “The two countries play hand in hand, but each in their own interests”, relativizes the specialist in the region, co-author with Nabil Ennasri of the book The Qatar Empire: the new master of the game? published by Les Points sur les I.
Beyond the regional rivalry buried for a time against a backdrop of well-understood interests, the two theocracies can both count on a bottomless wallet to satisfy their dreams of grandeur.