Saudi Pro League’s signing with Ronaldo, Benzema is just the beginning: Board member

The Saudi Pro League (SPL), which has recently seen prominent footballers join its ranks, will continue its “remarkable” spending spree on players, Peter Hutton, a member of the league’s board told the BBC.

“I think the budgets are in place for a number of years – you know, I don’t see this slowing down,” he said.

Saudi Arabia has signed dozens of renowned footballers, ranging from Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo to Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema and England midfielder Jordan Henderson.

Earlier in August, Bayern Munich’s Senegal forward Sadio Mane joined Saudi club Al Nassr.

Last month, several media reports claimed Saudi club Al Hilal had made a record $332 million bid for iconic French striker Kylian Mbappe.

Hutton, who worked in sports for four decades, noted that he has never seen a project as huge and ambitious as the SPL’s.

The leading executive also explained that while Saudi spending to sign foreign players has the world of sport talking, it’s actually “a quarter or a fifth of what Premier League clubs have spent this summer.”

SPL clubs have spent $449 million so far this summer – the fifth-highest total in world football while the Premier League has spent $1.5 billion, the BBC reported, citing Transfermarkt.

Commenting on the big changes that Saudi Arabia has witnessed in recent years as part of Vision 2030, Hutton highlighted how changes pertaining to women’s role in society rapidly swept the Kingdom.

“The changes in the role of women in Saudi community are remarkable and moving very fast. Clearly in Western eyes it could move a lot faster, but it has moved remarkably in the context of the history of the Kingdom.”

He added that evidence speaks for itself in terms of women’s participation in sports.

“I look at the evidence I see. You’ve now got 50,000 school girls playing football. You’ve got 1,000 women coaches. In 2018, there were 750 registered coaches. Now there are over 5,500.”

Hutton also said that the Kingdom’s investment in football is not just about attracting big names and offering high salaries.

“It’s also about the whole Saudi football infrastructure, whether that be women, youth football, creating a whole pyramid that really transforms the sport in the country.”

Commenting on the Saudi government’s involvement in the SPL through the Public Investment Fund (PIF) which owns four clubs, Hutton said it can be seen as a model for other countries to bring together the academies, women’s and men’s leagues, and the football federation to “create a roadmap for growth which is interlinked, not people fighting for territory.”

Asked when the SPL will start to see a return on its massive investment, he said he expects to “see projections for income which are really strong in nine or 10 years’ time.”

“It’s just important to see year-by-year increases and certainly the gates are up, TV revenues are up, sponsorship is up. I don’t see why that should slow down,” Hutton added.