Karim Benzema, one of soccer’s best players and a fixture at
the Spanish giant Real Madrid for more than a decade, has agreed to join the
Saudi champion Al-Ittihad on a three-year contract that will make him the
latest prize acquisition for a kingdom rapidly expanding its ambitions and influence
in sports.
اضافة اعلان
The decision by Benzema, a 35-year-old French striker, to
move to Saudi Arabia was confirmed by Al-Ittihad on Tuesday after days of
rumors.
While it is an unusual choice for a player still perceived
as an elite talent in one of Europe’s best leagues, his acquisition might not
be the last high-profile signing by the Saudi league, which is embarking on a
billion-dollar project, backed by the seemingly bottomless wealth of the
state-controlled Public Investment Fund, to turn the kingdom into a major
player in world soccer.
Benzema’s arrival will come only months after a different
Saudi club lured another star, Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, with one
of the richest contracts in soccer history.
Among the other marquee players said to have been targeted
by the Saudi league is Lionel Messi, who led Argentina to the World Cup title
in December in Qatar.
The salaries offered to the players are some of the largest
in sports history, according to interviews with agents, Saudi sports officials
and consultants hired to execute the project. All spoke on condition of
anonymity because the negotiations are private.
Saudi officials are hoping that the presence of stars such
as Ronaldo and Benzema will persuade dozens more successful players from Europe’s
top leagues to follow them to the kingdom.
Raising the profile of Saudi Arabia
The signings are part of an ambitious plan, supported at the
highest levels of the Saudi state and bankrolled by the Public Investment Fund,
to raise the profile of the Saudi league and the country’s status in global
sports, and alter perceptions of Saudi Arabia on the world stage.
Similar in scale and ambition to a Saudi-financed campaign
to dominate professional golf through the year-old LIV Golf series, the soccer
effort is a centralized plan to turn a domestic league that has long been an
afterthought into a destination for elite talent.
The signing of Benzema came days after Saudi Arabia passed
ownership of the Saudi Premier League’s four biggest clubs to the PIF from the
government by announcing the fund had taken a 75 percent ownership stake in
each team: Al-Ittihad, the newly crowned Saudi champion; Al-Nassr, which
employs Ronaldo; and Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. They are among the biggest and best
followed clubs in Saudi soccer.
Those four clubs are expected to be the primary
beneficiaries of the PIF’s new focus on raising the league’s profile.
But their common ownership by the fund is raising questions
about sporting integrity, since the rules of soccer’s global governing body,
FIFA, and Asian soccer’s ruling confederation prohibit the same owner to
control multiple clubs in the same competition.
Saudi officials said this week that they have taken measures
to ensure the PIF-owned teams comply with these regulations, but they offered
no evidence that such safeguards were in place.
Soccer to increase public health awareness
The plan to buy a foothold in world soccer is reminiscent of
a similar one a decade ago in which China used high-profile and high-dollar
acquisitions of players and European clubs. That plan, marred by broken
contracts, economic implosions and the coronavirus pandemic, now appears to be
in retreat.
The Saudi project, government officials have said, has
broader aims than just a few dozen showcase signings. The government sees
sports as a promising sector as it attempts to diversify the Saudi economy, and
officials also have said raising the importance of sports would help tackle the
problem of obesity in the country.
The Saudi plan will start on solid financial footing: The
PIF has signed 20-year commercial agreements worth tens of millions of dollars
with the clubs it now controls, and it sponsors the league itself through one
of the companies in its portfolio, real estate developer Roshn.
It is unclear when Benzema will arrive in Jeddah, where
Al-Ittihad is based, now that he has committed his future to a country that has
a rich soccer history and where the sport is passionately followed.
One thing is certain, however: Whenever he does, Al-Ittihad
fans, known as some of the most passionate in the country and riding high after
winning their latest league title, will be ready to roll out the welcome mat.
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