Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, which will host the Spanish Super Cup from Wednesday, January 10 to Sunday, January 14, looks like a huge computer motherboard from the altitude allowed by the flight. A perfectly defined grid that comes to life at night with a powerful blanket of light. Football fields appear like chips in the middle of the blocks where sidewalks are privileged. The turrets rise from time to time, showing that sport is not a simple tool, but a strategic basis for the country.
In December, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sports issued tenders worth €2.5 billion for the construction and renovation of stadiums. These are projects focusing on the 2027 Asian Cup. It is planned to build a large field in the north of Riyadh, which will be hosted by the state and serve as a general rehearsal for the 2034 World Cup, with the aim of “sustainability” despite the waste of energy. in all the ideas outlined and in expanding the capacity of existing ones.
Petrodollar will remain tied to oil
Saudi Arabia wants to open up to the world thanks to the universality offered by football. ‘Sport wash’ touches but also hospitality touches. Spanish press covering the event were welcomed with flowers, incense and tea at a private terminal in Riyadh.
It’s an image increasingly repeated across all leagues, as if a sheikh is about to invest in a club, but now the aim is to transform it. Saudi Pro League is one of the ten strongest leagues on the planet. While it is the capital of sports tourism, it also hosts the Italian Super Cup, the Club World Cup and, of course, the aforementioned 2034 World Cup.
“Saudi Arabia is looking for its own resources beyond oil. The Arabs told me that their approach is to open up so that everyone can get to know their culture. They want to make it visible that they are a safe country, But they are aware that they have tasks ahead of them if they want to create an attractive scenario for us Westerners.“, tells Prensa Ibérica Ramón Marcote, who is in charge of the youth team of Al-Hilal (2021-2022), the main team of the country, in which Neymar Jr., among others, plays.
There is no gray area for alcohol
Marcote had been linked with Atlético de Madrid for over a decade and had various experiences abroad; most recently as assistant coach of Selangor FC in Malaysia. Therefore, football as a sport and industry has a global vision. Therefore, he expresses the following thought: “I lived very well there. I enjoyed it very much, and when I wanted to go to a good restaurant, I could do it.”. There are areas for this in Riyadh, such as U Walk (a great walk with international shops and establishments). But everything closes at 12pm. “Of course we’d like to be able to drink beer, but it has to be soft drinks.”
Because alcohol is not even an option in Saudi Arabia, as in other surrounding countries. The most obvious example is Qatar, once a more direct adversary, which relaxed its laws at the last World Cup. “This is not a specific event, before and after are very important.”“A report is being written by the consultancy firm HKA on how the incident in Qatar affects the country.
Meanwhile, there is a historical thorn in the side that the Arab government now wants to remove by monopolizing all sports fame. In order to speed up transactions and provide wide coverage, It is possible to obtain an electronic visa in less than an hour for 180 Euros.
The goal is to recruit qualified professionals
“There were restrictions during Covid, like everywhere else in the world. But they recently reopened tourist visas, which has made accessing the country much easier. I really enjoyed the experience and hopefully I will have the opportunity to return to Saudi Arabia, where I am comfortable,” he said. Marcote emphasizes, He got the opportunity to join Al-Hilal, Asia’s most successful club (with four Champions Leagues), through another Spaniard.Josep Cifre Alaminos has been in Saudi Arabia for more than five years, activating Al-Hilal youth projects, among other things.
“When I arrived (2021), many nights from Al-Hilal they told us that they had a great idea to establish a league. But this was a project that went beyond football. Hence this is the state’s financing plan. by the Public Investment Fund to the country’s main clubs (Al Ahli, Al Ittihad, Al Hilal and Al Nassr).. “They know that both gas and oil are resources limited to 100 or 150 years… So they are clear that it is necessary to open the country to the world to keep the country profitable,” explains Marcote.
While time will tell how quickly the Saudi Vision 2030 plan for economic diversification will be implemented, Saudi Arabia also wants to defend its culture, architecture and values such as internal security in the context of global conflict. With this sense of refuge that invites but also protects, they look for a master plan that will change their perspective. Likewise, the goal is Ramón Marcote or Míchel González is registered with Al-Qadsiah of the Second League but is owned by Aramco, the world’s largest oil company.. They want to show that they can influence and contribute to the rest of the potential of the world, not the other way around.