FC Bayern Munich Uli Hoeness
“And we pay for the whole thing with our oil bill…”
As of: 3:58 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
Not England and not Spain – Bavaria’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß sees Saudi Arabia as the main opponent of German football in the future
Source: Getty Images/Alexander Hassenstein
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Uli Hoeneß sees an enormous challenge ahead for football. Saudi Arabia is willing to dominate world football. The honorary president already has a plan for how FC Bayern wants to counteract this.
Uli Hoeneß sees huge challenges ahead for European football given Saudi Arabia’s financial strength. “The Saudis seem really determined to perhaps dominate world football,” said the honorary president of FC Bayern Munich in an interview with RTL/ntv. The 71-year-old sees greater competition than the Chinese push a few years ago, when some European footballers were lured there.
“There is a component that was not the case in China: that there is an abundance of money and we have to pay for the whole thing through our oil bill,” said Hoeneß. Saudi Arabia has attracted numerous stars – especially the multiple world footballer Cristiano Ronaldo – to the country with immensely high investments. It is certain that the 2034 World Cup will also take place there.
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“We are currently undergoing a relatively strong transformation in world football. We always thought that the opponents were in England, in Spain, a little bit in France, in Italy. But now completely new things are coming to world football. Now a country like Saudi Arabia has suddenly emerged with an infinitely large pot of money,” said Hoeneß. An attempt is being made to buy real world-class players and build a proper structure.
Good youth work against the financial power from Saudi Arabia
In the fight against this incredible financial power, Hoeneß wants to score points with good youth work. “We believe that a club like Bayern Munich can only overcome the challenges that come our way from Saudi Arabia, England, Spain and Italy, not by opening our wallets indefinitely. “But by trying to stand up to them through our own talents and through our youth training center,” said Hoeneß.
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“They can only play with eleven players,” said long-time Bayern organizers. “There is enough talent in the world. We have to try to develop a lot of players ourselves through very good youth work.”
Like the previous World Cup host Qatar, Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its human rights situation and sportswashing. With the latter, the country hopes to receive positive coverage in the international media. The kingdom has been increasingly seeking influence and attention in sport for years.
