Karim Benzema Joins Al-Ittihad, Becoming Latest Saudi Sports Prize

Karim Benzema, certainly one of soccer’s greatest gamers and a fixture on the Spanish large Real Madrid for greater than a decade, has agreed to affix the Saudi champion Al-Ittihad on a three-year contract that can make him the most recent prize acquisition for a kingdom quickly increasing its ambitions and affect in sports activities.

The choice by Benzema, a 35-year-old French striker, to maneuver to Saudi Arabia was confirmed by Al-Ittihad on Tuesday after days of rumors. While it’s an uncommon alternative for a participant nonetheless perceived as an elite expertise in certainly one of Europe’s greatest leagues, his acquisition may not be the final high-profile signing by the Saudi league, which is embarking on a billion-dollar mission, backed by the seemingly bottomless wealth of the state-controlled Public Investment Fund, to show the dominion into a significant participant in world soccer.

Benzema’s arrival will come solely months after a distinct Saudi membership lured one other star, the Portuguese ahead Cristiano Ronaldo, with one of many richest contracts in soccer historical past.

Among the different marquee gamers stated to have been focused by the Saudi league is Lionel Messi, who led Argentina to the World Cup title in December in Qatar. The salaries supplied to the gamers are among the largest in sports activities historical past, in line with interviews with brokers, Saudi sports activities officers and consultants employed to execute the mission. All spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of the negotiations are personal.

Saudi officers are hoping that the presence of stars like Ronaldo and Benzema will persuade dozens extra profitable gamers from Europe’s prime leagues to comply with them to the dominion. The signings are a part of an formidable plan, supported on the highest ranges of the Saudi state and bankrolled by the Public Investment Fund, to boost the profile of the Saudi league and the nation’s standing in world sports activities, and alter perceptions of Saudi Arabia on the world stage.

Similar in scale and ambition to a Saudi-financed marketing campaign to dominate skilled golf by means of the year-old LIV Golf sequence, the soccer effort is a centralized plan to show a home league that has lengthy been an afterthought right into a vacation spot for elite expertise.

The signing of Benzema got here days after Saudi Arabia handed possession of the Saudi Premier League’s 4 largest golf equipment to the PIF from the federal government by saying the fund had taken a 75 % possession stake in every group: Al-Ittihad, the newly topped Saudi champion; Al-Nassr, which employs Ronaldo; and Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. They are among the many largest and greatest adopted golf equipment in Saudi soccer.

Those 4 golf equipment are anticipated to be the first beneficiaries of the PIF’s new deal with elevating the league’s profile. But their widespread possession by the fund is already elevating questions on sporting integrity, because the guidelines of soccer’s world governing physique, FIFA, and Asian soccer’s ruling confederation prohibit the identical proprietor to regulate a number of golf equipment in the identical competitors. Saudi officers stated this week that they’ve taken measures to make sure the PIF-owned groups adjust to these laws, however they supplied no proof that such safeguards had been in place.

The state’s involvement in soccer comes on the heels of a surprisingly sturdy efficiency by Saudi Arabia’s nationwide group ultimately yr’s World Cup, the place the group’s run included a surprising victory over Argentina. The mission’s acknowledged aim is to make the nation’s prime division, the Saudi Pro League, one of many world’s 10 greatest home leagues. The league is unlikely to change into a real rival of extra established leagues in Europe and elsewhere, however the assets of the PIF may destabilize the multibillion-dollar world marketplace for gamers, and drive up the value of prime skills all over the world.

The plan to purchase a foothold in world soccer is harking back to the same one a decade in the past wherein China used high-profile and high-dollar acquisitions of gamers and European golf equipment. That plan, marred by damaged contracts, financial implosions and the coronavirus pandemic, now seems to be in retreat.

The Saudi mission, authorities officers have stated, has broader goals than only a few dozen showcase signings. The authorities sees sports activities as a promising sector because it makes an attempt to diversify the Saudi economic system, and officers even have stated elevating the significance of sports activities would assist deal with the issue of weight problems within the nation.

The Saudi plan will begin on strong monetary footing: The PIF already has signed 20-year business agreements price tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} with the golf equipment it now controls, and it sponsors the league itself by means of one of many corporations in its portfolio, the true property developer Roshn.

The aim is for the 4 largest groups to subject three prime international gamers every, and for an additional eight gamers to be distributed among the many remaining 12 groups within the league, in line with one of many folks briefed on the plans to convey international stars to the league, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to debate them publicly.

Critics of Saudi Arabia have labeled its heavy spending in sports activities as an try to enhance the dominion’s picture overseas and divert consideration away from its human rights file; Saudi officers have repeatedly rejected these allegations.

It is unclear when Benzema will arrive in Jeddah, the place Al-Ittihad relies, now that he has dedicated his future to a rustic that has a wealthy soccer historical past and the place the game is passionately adopted.

One factor is for certain, nonetheless: Whenever he does, Al-Ittihad followers, often called among the most passionate within the nation and driving excessive after successful their newest league title, can be able to roll out the welcome mat.