Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) held a meeting with the Spanish media before the Super Cup final. According to the representative who spoke, this was a way to engage directly with another country’s press and tone down the ‘Western narrative’ that ‘sportswashing’ represents for the state, as he said following a question from this newspaper. To overcome this criticism, the federation explained how it is working to make football the axis of economic and social development. El Periódico de España from the group Prensa Ibérica.
The process that will culminate in the celebration of the 2034 World Cup will be a business opportunity not only for million-dollar signings, but also for profiles in sectors such as grassroots football and women’s football. The SAFF presentation is built around both methods. According to David Cabildo, one of the technicians, Ana Junyent, the organization has valuable Spanish and Portuguese coaches. A person who coaches a team in the Saudi Women’s Premier League.
Up to 3,700 euros to play in the Saudi third
We should also add this Former Barça coach and former Ukraine coach Lluis Cortés named head of the Saudi women’s team. David Pascual, physical coach at Mahd Academy, one of 18 high-performance centers existing in a country that wants to move from staying connected to the present to preparing for the future, shares the Cabildo’s perspective.
This is also reflected in the Saudi Vision 2030 strategy, where Arabia wants to stop being dependent on oil. Talent is sought on all fronts for this process, and job offers for Saudi football have increased recently. In June last year, Offer from FutbolJobs spread by SPAIN NEWSPAPER It went viral. The Spanish company submitted an offer stating that they were looking for players for the third team in Saudi Arabia and offering a monthly salary of 3,700 euros plus a house.
“Thanks to the massive dissemination of the proposal for the Saudi third division, 5,000 players applied. We have also expanded the database of football players from more than 70 countries. We also tripled the paid subscriptions on our platform. The average number of users applying for each offer is 250, but there may be peaks depending on the offer,” explains Álvaro García Martínez, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of FutbolJobs.
More than 70,000 girls play football
The Saudi Arabian federation is aware that the opportunity to invest in football comes from the need to diversify the economy. “We had a good team in the 80s (they won the Asian Cup twice), but we didn’t actually bet. Only one more stadium was built until 1995. We realized that in order to reach the standards we target, expenditures on sports must be high.. The SAFF member, whose name and surname were requested not to be stated, said, “We want to raise the bar of being the best host of the 2034 World Cup.”
The goals of Saudi football are ambitious. They plan to rise from their current 56th place in the FIFA rankings to 20th place before the 2034 World Cup. They are planning an even bigger rise from 175th to 65th in women’s football. This will require increasing infrastructure, so the Saudis plan to reach 17,000 sites, compared to the 2,300 sites currently deployed in the country. Yes, you read that right: 17,000. A number that the Federation representative was asked what it meant. “It will be 17,000, not 1,700.” All of this is accompanied by foreign talent, allowing you to pursue talent in a state where licensing is rapidly increasing.
“There were no girls competing in school football in 2021 and currently more than 70,000 people participate in these competitions“, they point out from SAFF. Other relevant data: In the women’s team, further sub-categories were created and the number of teams increased from 16 to 34. Estimates are that these figures “He has implemented more reforms in the last eight years than in the previous 80 years.”
Cooperation with Spain to train players
According to FutbolJobs’ CMO, “the most requested profiles by clubs and agencies are forwards and centre-backs, preferably left-handed players.” Considering the targets set by the federation recently, “Search for European grassroots football coach increasedBecause the biggest goal of the Saudi country is to train young players for the 2034 World Cup.”
In this sense, Spain and Arabia cooperate closely through the ‘Falcons of the Future’ program, which was implemented in 2019. 205 players participated in this training plan, 38 of them signed contracts with European clubs. Likewise, 18 football players were called up from the national team and more than 150 matches were played with the ‘Old Continent’ teams.
Similarly, efforts are being made to train coaches, especially for women’s football. Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga are hosting different programs since 2021 This year, seminars will be held in Jeddah and Riyadh in cooperation with the Royal Spanish Football Federation. “We have a significant history full of successes. Our strategy aims to be long-lasting. The Saudi Vision 2030 plan aims to create a vibrant society where everyone can thrive and grow,” explain the future organizers of the 2034 World Cup, for whom a collective bid will be presented next July.
A summer market that will be “huge” in the future
“Arabia will continue to invest every year to strengthen itself with the best possible players in all leagues. The aim is to place itself on the football map and league as one of the best in global football. The 2034 World Cup is a great incentive to continue investing and continue promoting tournaments.
This will have a negative impact on other competitions because paying exorbitant salaries or transfers, A huge economic inflation in the market“, predicts Álvaro García Martínez, marketing director of FutbolJobs.
But contrary to what was reported in some European media, Saudi Arabia has no intention of turning off the tap. Abdulaziz Al Rabah, Al Arabiya’s Editor-in-Chief of Sports for a decade, predicts a “massive summer market” coming up.
Because, as the Saudi Arabian Football Federation stated, the 2034 World Cup is “the natural step of our sports journey. A dream that will be possible thanks to our love for the gamethe transformation of our country and the energy of young people (two-thirds of the population is under 30).