Former Mainz Bundesliga professional Alexander Hack deals calmly with critical comments about his move to the Saudi Arabian second division football club al-Qadisiyah FC. “I don’t want to justify it at all. The overall package convinced me. I certainly didn’t sell my values or leave them at the airport,” said the central defender in an interview with Sport1 (Thursday).
After nine years at FSV Mainz 05, the 30-year-old moved to the club coached by Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler despite offers from the Bundesliga and signed a two-year contract there. Saudi Arabia is criticized for its human rights situation and sportswashing.
“I earn many times more”
Hack openly admits that the significantly higher earnings were one reason. “Of course I won’t talk around it. I earn many times more than in Germany. But money was one of the reasons, but not the only one. “I wanted to play football again, which wouldn’t have been so easy in Germany,” said Hack.
Originally, Hack wanted to stay with the Zero Fives and maybe even end his career there. But after an injury last season, he hardly got any playing time in the second half of the season, and he also had a “very bad” feeling about appearances this season. “I’ll be honest, the second division in Saudi Arabia sounded crazy to me. Why should I switch there? But then I heard who was going to be the coach and which players had already been signed and that convinced me,” said Hack, who can very well imagine a return to Mainz.
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He doesn’t believe that after the signings of stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar or Karim Benzema, Saudi football will be bigger than that in Europe. But “if the country really opens up, the Saudis could become a big player.”
