Ronaldo (right) did not contribute to the desired transformation in Saudi football – Image: Reuters
The ambitions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The year 2022 is considered the “beginning of dreams” for Saudi football, as this year witnessed a series of notable and historic achievements.
In June 2022, Saudi Arabia won the AFC U-23 Championship, marking their first tournament win.
As the end of the year approached, the Saudi national team surprised the football world by defeating the Argentina national team led by Messi. Although they were unable to advance beyond the group stage, this achievement is considered a historical milestone for Saudi football.
For decades, Saudi Arabia – despite being ranked among the “giants” on par with Japan, South Korea, Australia and Iran – has suffered from a severe lack of performance on a global level.
In Qatar, for the first time in history, Saudi Arabia defeated two rivals for the title (Argentina later became champions), and it was also the first time they conceded fewer than 7 goals in a World Cup.
In addition to this achievement achieved by the national team, Saudi football witnessed a “huge” transfer deal in the Saudi Professional League, when Al-Nasr succeeded in signing Ronaldo.
Ronaldo arrived in Saudi Arabia amid high football expectations – Photo: Reuters
When Ronaldo arrived in Saudi Arabia, he promised to elevate football in the country and make it one of the top five exciting leagues on the planet.
There was no doubt about that ambition at the time. Ronaldo, Al-Nassr and Saudi Arabia represented a “new era” in football, as the balance of power gradually shifted towards the oil money of the Middle East.
In terms of strength, the Saudi Football League has a foundation that is not much lower than the Japanese or South Korean league, and they are now spending much more money than China.
In fact, in the three years following Ronaldo’s arrival, Saudi clubs spent $3 billion on player transfers and another $3 billion on salaries.
This does not even include signing bonuses, special service packages for players’ relatives and families, and tournament promotion costs. Along with this, come projects such as building stadiums, opening academies, and applying to host the World Cup…
It is estimated that Saudi oil billionaires have spent tens of billions of dollars to support their football ambitions. Ronaldo’s salary at Al-Nasr Club alone amounted to billions of dollars.
But after three years, this huge investment wave has not yielded any results.
And the harsh truth
For weeks, fans have been circulating pictures of Al-Nasr stadiums almost empty of fans, with many matches attracting only 6,000 to 7,000 spectators.
According to Transfermarkt statistics, the average attendance at Saudi Professional League matches this season is only 8,789 people per match.
In the 2021-2022 season, immediately after the Covid-19 pandemic and before Ronaldo’s arrival, this number was 7,885. Before the pandemic, in the 2018-2019 season, the corresponding figure was 8,355.
Ronaldo and other stars from Europe and South America have had an impact, but it is not a huge impact.
In terms of commercial revenues, the Saudi Professional League achieved about 150 million US dollars last season, which is a small amount compared to the expenses incurred by the clubs. Furthermore, most of this revenue comes from sponsors and local TV rights.
The Saudi Professional League is still stagnant, and the Saudi national football teams are truly disappointing for fans.
At one time, the Saudi national team dominated the Asian Cup. However, in the 2019 and 2023 editions, the Saudi national team was eliminated in the round of 16.
Saudi Arabia (right) disappoints in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers – Image: Reuters
In the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Saudi national team severely disappointed, failing to qualify among the top six teams in the third stage. He was only able to secure his qualification in the fourth stage, after receiving many benefits from the Asian Football Confederation (such as hosting the tournament).
The same applies to youth football. After the Saudi Under-23 team won the 2022 championship, it was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 2024 AFC U-23 Championship, and now faces the risk of being eliminated from the group stage in the year it hosts the tournament.
What caused the level of Saudi football to decline so sharply? Fans can’t help but think of the legendary Ronaldo.
“This large influx of foreign players is not in the interest of Saudi football. The presence of a large number of players like Ronaldo deprives local players of playing opportunities. It is time for the Saudi Professional League to reconsider its policies,” former Saudi Sports Minister Abdullah bin Musaed said a few months ago.
The Saudi Professional League currently leads Asia in terms of the number of seats allocated to foreign players. Each team in the league is allowed to register 8 foreign players, in addition to 4 additional places for players under 21 years old.
Most Saudi Professional League clubs have 10 foreign players in their squad, and some teams have 12 foreign players. This means, in theory, that there may not be room left for local players.
In fact, the result of the influx of star foreign players is that the playing space available to Saudi players has become increasingly limited.
Young stars like Radev often sit on the bench in the Saudi Professional League – Photo: AFC
For example, in the current AFC U-23 Championship, most of the players under the leadership of coach Luigi Di Baggio do not have a starting place in their clubs in the Saudi Professional League.
Let’s take Abdullah Redeef as a prominent example. He is the first striker in the U-23 team, and he participated in 20 matches and scored 12 goals. At the club level, Redeef played only one minute in the Saudi Professional League this season, in addition to 40 minutes in other competitions, and has not scored any goals so far.
Why? Because Radev plays for Al Hilal – a team that includes Darwin Nunez and Leonardo – two powerful strikers who have excelled in Europe and are currently at the peak of their level.
Thus, as opportunities for local players diminished, the standard of the Saudi national teams continued to decline. At the same time, the Saudi Professional League has not shown any signs of improvement, contrary to Ronaldo’s promises.
Why don’t Saudi players play abroad?
Very few Saudi players travel to play abroad, even though their skill level is no lower than that of South Korean or Japanese players. Iran even has dozens of players playing football in Europe.
The “introversion” tendency of Saudi players stems from the country’s football philosophy in the 1990s.
At that time, they banned players from playing abroad to prevent brain drain. This ban was lifted in 1998, but it did not change the mentality of the Saudis.
Secondly, the salaries offered by Saudi Premier League clubs are excellent. Most of the current key players in the Saudi national team earn about one million US dollars at their clubs, which is equivalent to what young stars earn in Europe.
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