Now that FSR is an issue for the clubs who wanted it to stop another City it will be interesting see if they push for changes So ironic that it now suits City and that it is helps in stoping another version of us challengingI know our alleged rule breaches are on a different scale and in a sense of certain clubs are punished then fans will want other clubs they perceive to have done wrong to be punished having said that the league cannot keep punishing clubs the clubs will fight back so maybe this is good news for us
The main point is that sport is merely a means to a much much more important end for the Saudis. They could spend however much they lose on their football league on Marketing firms promoting their kingdom every year, & get way less publicity for their money than having LIV Golf, their loss making football league, Boxing world title fights, the World Cup, F1 races etc.That clip reminds me of the start of The Full Monty with the Sheffield video :D
Looks very impressive and glossy, but not sure I will be a long term success.
The changes happening in the middle east are encouraging, no doubt. They are waking up to the realisation the oil train is gonna stop in 20 to 30 years, and not utilising the effort and potential skills of 50% of their population is gonna hurt them.The main point is that sport is merely a means to a much much more important end for the Saudis. They could spend however much they lose on their football league on Marketing firms promoting ther kingdom every year, & get way less publicity for their money than having LIV Golf, their loss making football league, Boxing world title fights, the World Cup, F1 races etc.
To show they're transitioning from being a strict Sharia Law country, into a more secular state, the Pope conducted mass at a Catholic church there last year.
Women are now allowed to work in almost all sectors of their economy that men do, & from 2019 women were also allowed to drive.
Since 2019, they've been holding HUGE 750,000 capacity music festivals, where Saudi women are allowed to attend without a hijab, niqab or chaperone, & are allowed to mix freely with anyone there, including men they're not related to.
Smoking & alcohol are still banned in the country, but in NEOM & the Red Sea Islands off the coast, they're looking to follow Dubai's lead & allow both, but strict public decency laws will still apply.
These reforms & policies are being massively accelerated because of their 2032 World Cup bid where they've promised to relax their strict tobacco & alcohol laws, regardless of whether they've been relaxed nationally in law by then.
The 81 men they publicly beheaded in 2022, were accused of a mixture of crimes including murder, rape, smuggling etc. However Amnesty International believe 65% were chopped for very vague reasons which amounted to a warning from their defacto leader Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), letting it be known to their CONservative Muslim clerics that if they openly dissent against his sweeping social, economic & religious reforms, that he's zero issue with lining up all the old men with beards, & chopping their blocks off.
Fiscally, between 2015-2022 the Saudis were barely making a profit on oil sales because the price had dropped so low on the international markets. All that changed when Mad Vlad decided to invade Ukraine, causing oil prices to spike.
MBS is desperate to make hay whilst the sun is shining, so created Project 2030 as his cut off point to have these social/religious/economic reforms & huge infrastructure projects up & running.
He's vowed nothing will stand in Saudi Arabia's way in reforming their country, before the world starts ditching fossil fuels in favour of renewables, which would leave them floating on a vat of Black gold, with few takers.
As I said, buying Newcastle, pumping billions into their football league & applying to host World Cup 2032 is all part of a far larger strategy to transform the kingdom. Losing the odd £Billion here or there is all factored in to a far larger national economic strategy.
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Other clubs need to wake up and see how ffp is going to screw them. Instead of saying what about such n such club they should stick together to fight the red shirts + spuds !
The Saudis are desperately trying to bring in sweeping reforms, but it's seriously difficult to do when surrounded by religious enemies who want you dead, & the constant wars that keep erupting around them.The changes happening in the middle east are encouraging, no doubt. They are waking up to the realisation the oil train is gonna stop in 20 to 30 years, and not utilising the effort and potential skills of 50% of their population is gonna hurt them.
With regard to footy, their league is unsustainable, not because of a lack of investment, but a lack of interest globally, even locally.
What I would say is the rulers there will throw cash at this project up until they are awarded the world Cup. Then they will temper the investment to a manageable loss level.
If the middle east can set up a league for those arab states to play in, that could go some way to becoming a success. A bit like the once floated Atlantic League for small European countries. Let's see.
Personally, I'm not bothered if Saudi get the world Cup. I hope it brings about a more tolerant relationship between their rulers, their people, the region, and the world in general.
As I get older, I hope more than I used to :/
City youths, City Womens team and City U21'somorrow the PL will announce any club that has breached FSR for last season rumours of 3 clubs
I think they overspent on tea bags last year. Rule 69 has a maximum tea bagging clause.City youths, City Womens team and City U21's