Saudi Sovereign fund

schfc6 said:
My guess would be they’ll all live in the UAE. Flight in the weekend of the game. Maybe for a couple of training sessions a week.

If I were the family of a player or a player was my son, I’d be asking about the health implications. Is playing abd training in that heat good for you?
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Marc Vivien Foe amongst others would have said it's not a good idea.
Sports like football are meant to be played in a cool climate.
Go back to the world cup in Mexico, bobby charlton struggled and had to come off because he was being adversely affected by the sun.
The brilliant Brazilian team (who would have been used to playing in those conditions) were less affected, but even they were playing walking football for long spells in games.
 
Constantine said:
Not true that. They have a lot of football fans and are really football-loving nations. A look at Middle-Eastern sports media would give you some insight.
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You think the Saudi authorities are investing this much to give their football-crazy fans some football to watch?
 
halfcenturyup said:
You think the Saudi authorities are investing this much to give their football-crazy fans some football to watch?
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I'm talking about grassroots and youth interest in football. That's all. I don't know about the politics like you.
 
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Constantine said:
I'm talking about grassroots and youth interest in football. That's all. I don't know about the politics and evil Saudi authorities like you.
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Defensive. I never said the Saudi authorities are evil, although they do some particularly unhinged sometimes. I am suggesting they are only investing this much in football to give weight to a world cup bid not to develop grass roots football and a sustainable pyramid there. I am also suggesting that, once it is held there, any Saudi league won't be the same priority for them. You disagree?
 
halfcenturyup said:
Defensive. I never said the Saudi authorities are evil, although they do some particularly unhinged sometimes. I am suggesting they are only investing this much in football to give weight to a world cup bid not to develop grass roots football and a sustainable pyramid there. I am also suggesting that, once it is held there, any Saudi league won't be the same priority for them. You disagree?
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Maybe not "politically correct" to say this but I disagree. Tell me, when did they start their professional league and foreign recruitment?
 
Constantine said:
Maybe not "politically correct" to say this but I disagree. Tell me, when did they start their professional league and foreign recruitment?
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You don't have to be politically correct with me. Just say what you are thinking.

But seriously, why would I be interested in their league, when it was created and when they started with foreign players?

I am talking about what is happening now. Starting with Ronaldo, trying Messi, and then scooping up as many other "elite", end of career players as they can with ridiculous remunerations. It's clearly for image, nothing to do with football development. Not to mention the concentration of clubs under the PIF.

But it's fine if you don't agree. I just find it curious.
 
halfcenturyup said:
You don't have to be politically correct with me. Just say what you are thinking.

But seriously, why would I be interested in their league, when it was created and when they started with foreign players?

I am talking about what is happening now. Starting with Ronaldo, trying Messi, and then scooping up as many other "elite", end of career players as they can with ridiculous remunerations. It's clearly for image, nothing to do with football development. Not to mention the concentration of clubs under the PIF.

But it's fine if you don't agree. I just find it curious.
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How can you talk about "just now" when you claim that they're only aiming for the world cup and then forget about football? They have started their pro league in 1976. It became fully professional in 2008. The League consists of 16 clubs with sub-Tier divisions. They have two cup tournaments. They have recruited hundreds of players from many countries around the world. You're saying that ALL this will collapse once they host the damn World Cup. I beg to differ. I also resent the big player fees and all that but I think it's not only about World Cup. I could be wrong.
 
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Constantine said:
How can you talk about "just now" when you claim that they're only aiming for the world cup and then forget about football? They have started their pro league in 1976. It became fully professional in 2008. The League consists of 16 clubs with sub-Tier divisions. They have two cup tournaments. They have recruited hundreds of players from many countries around the world. You're saying that ALL this will collapse once they host the damn World Cup. I beg to differ. I find it curious that you think they're doing it just for a World Cup. Note: this is strictly about football. I have no idea about the politics.
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Getting a little much for the thread now, so I will leave the last comment to you, but don't put words in my mouth (second time). Of course I don't think the Saudi league will collapse after they hold a world cup. I am sure it will continue nicely with a large proportion of foreign players, largely Brazilian C list players like at the moment, maybe with many talented Saudi players coming through. I hope so for them. But you must see there has been a huge change in the last year, starting with Ronaldo. They are investing huge amounts of money NOW in player contracts and I can't see any other reason for it than WC related PR.

Anyway, I am done. Have a great day.
 
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