Saudi League thread

Champ said:
Seems like it's an easy fix for Saudi PIF to sort, but quite funny to see the money is drying up already.
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The money is not drying up. this reported FIFA ban is based on some transfer they did five years ago way before PIF got involved.

So yeah, should be an easy fix by just paying whatever they owe which is probably peanuts anyway compared to the money they've been throwing around in recent times.
 
Rnd898 said:
The money is not drying up. this reported FIFA ban is based on some transfer they did five years ago way before PIF got involved.

So yeah, should be an easy fix by just paying whatever they owe which is probably peanuts anyway compared to the money they've been throwing around in recent times.
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Yeah it's £390k to Leicester which they were ordered to pay by CAS. Probably just being difficult.
 
I despise the way there’s still countries that institutionalise misogyny, homophobia and corporal punishment, and I also boycotted WC in Qatar, but I’ve ruminated over a potential scenario:

Say Henderson - or any other player for that matter - agrees to go to Saudi Arabia and donates a large chunk of their salary to organisations that fights prejudice, misogyny and racism. How would you view their transfer then?

On one hand he will inevitably play a part in Saudi Arabia’s mission to purify their reputation, on the other hand he’ll massively improve the organisation’s mission with millions in donations.
 
The calibre of the players they are getting seems to be much higher than the Chinese league before. The players are also a bit younger and closer to their prime than what the MLS usually gets.
 
Giggs' right foot said:
I despise the way there’s still countries that institutionalise misogyny, homophobia and corporal punishment, and I also boycotted WC in Qatar, but I’ve ruminated over a potential scenario:

Say Henderson - or any other player for that matter - agrees to go to Saudi Arabia and donates a large chunk of their salary to organisations that fights prejudice, misogyny and racism. How would you view their transfer then?

On one hand he will inevitably play a part in Saudi Arabia’s mission to purify their reputation, on the other hand he’ll massively improve the organisation’s mission with millions in donations.
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No he won't
 
Idxomer said:
The calibre of the players they are getting seems to be much higher than the Chinese league before. The players are also a bit younger and closer to their prime than what the MLS usually gets.
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Is it? An absolutely shot Ronaldo, Kante, and Koulibaly who ran from the top level with his tail between his legs. A past it Henderson is similar to the Fellaini we got rid years ago.

IMO they are making the same mistakes by overpaying for dross just to get in the headlines. The novelty will waer out in a few years, they'll lose money like crazy and eventually stop paying wages. It is essentially another 'football gold rush' right now.
 
mu4c_20le said:
Is it? An absolutely shot Ronaldo, Kante, and Koulibaly who ran from the top level with his tail between his legs. A past it Henderson is similar to the Fellaini we got rid years ago.

IMO they are making the same mistakes by overpaying for dross just to get in the headlines. The novelty will waer out in a few years, they'll lose money like crazy and eventually stop paying wages. It is essentially another 'football gold rush' right now.
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Oh, I don't think it'll be successful in the long term but they are trying a bit harder than the Chinese to make it work.

The likes of Brozovic, Neves and SMS aren't dross and we'll if they can pull off some of the other deals they are working on.
 
Idxomer said:
The calibre of the players they are getting seems to be much higher than the Chinese league before. The players are also a bit younger and closer to their prime than what the MLS usually gets.
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It's players taking an early retirement and playing casual, irrelevant football on the side. I'm just surprised so many big names are willingly moving them and their families to a desert tbh.
 
How much money is enough ?

Henderson has probably been earning a fortune every week for years, he does not need any extra money these days.

Greed really has taken over and the Saudis are making the most of it.
 
Based on the integrity of FIFA and UEFA I can see a future where the Saudi League obtains access to the Champions League and Europa League. I am not even joking.
 
adexkola said:
No, Jordan fecking Henderson will not play a role in Saudi Arabia's so called quest to purify their mission (to do what exactly, no one can say)
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Maybe not directly, but indirectly stuff like increase in followers for the club and league, views on clips, getting an avid LGBT-spokesperson to maybe speak of progress etc.

While I acknowledge Henderson is no Mbappé, he’s got an IG following of 5 million and has won it all. I’d call it rather dismissive to say a potential move means nothing for the Saudis project.
 
Surprised that non-PIF owned clubs are also throwing around 700k a week.
 
Giggs' right foot said:
Maybe not directly, but indirectly stuff like increase in followers for the club and league, views on clips, getting an avid LGBT-spokesperson to maybe speak of progress etc.

While I acknowledge Henderson is no Mbappé, he’s got an IG following of 5 million and has won it all. I’d call it rather dismissive to say a potential move means nothing for the Saudis project.
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Do you think their project is simply to establish the Saudi League? If so, then yeah I can say this moves the needle a bit.

If you think their project is to "win influence" or "launder their reputation" or "make LGBT persecution more acceptable", then I assure you that this signing does nothing in that regard.

WeePat said:
Can one not still be an ally whilst living in Saudi Arabia?
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You can't even connect in Riyadh or Dubai. That would "legitimize the regimes there" and spoil all the hard work one does at home.
 
adexkola said:
You can't even connect in Riyadh or Dubai. That would "legitimize the regimes there" and spoil all the hard work one does at home.
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I’ve thought about it some more and I think I’ve been a bit tone deaf to the topic.

This is a wild example, but bear with me. I tried to imagine if say, the KKK in the US had a football league for whites only and then offered Henderson, who had previously been a huge ally in the fight against racism here at home, a huge contract and he accepted it, would it be upsetting to me, to watch him go there and embrace that culture that dehumanises someone like me? Yeah it would. It would make me feel like everything he said and done as an ally was just performative and not genuine.

By all means take the money, go and play football but he would have to accept damage to his reputation.
 
Giggs' right foot said:
Maybe not directly, but indirectly stuff like increase in followers for the club and league, views on clips, getting an avid LGBT-spokesperson to maybe speak of progress etc.

While I acknowledge Henderson is no Mbappé, he’s got an IG following of 5 million and has won it all. I’d call it rather dismissive to say a potential move means nothing for the Saudis project.
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In what world some homophobic sheiks will stop being homophobic just cause some footballers move to their country to play football.

The moment any of the foreign footballers try to engage the saudi fans with LGBT friendly content, that's the moment they get kicked out of the country, there is probably a agreement in their contracts that don't allow the players to talk about anything related to LGBT stuff while they are in SA.
 
WeePat said:
I’ve thought about it some more and I think I’ve been a bit tone deaf to the topic.

This is a wild example, but bear with me. I tried to imagine if say, the KKK in the US had a football league for whites only and then offered Henderson, who had previously been a huge ally in the fight against racism here at home, a huge contract and he accepted it, would it be upsetting to me, to watch him go there and embrace that culture that dehumanises someone like me? Yeah it would. It would make me feel like everything he said and done as an ally was just performative and not genuine.

By all means take the money, go and play football but he would have to accept damage to his reputation.
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I've thought similar.

At the end I could live with someone getting his last pay check in such a place. The disappointment would come if he started rocking white hoods with crosses.
 
WeePat said:
Can one not still be an ally whilst living in Saudi Arabia?
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If you are pro-LGBT, and you move to Saudi Arabia, and receive shiton of money directly from the people who enforces anti-LGBT laws...sorry, you can post whatever you want on Instagram to make up for it, still you lost the plot.

Just imagine some "free Palestine" guy moving to work for a billionaire in Tel Aviv, an israeli billionaire who donates money to israeli government so more palestinian houses can get bulldozed every week...what would you say about this "free Palestine" guy?

At the end of the day, what most rich people say it's mere performative, rich people tend to be very fake anyways, wether is footballers, musicians, actors, politicians, etc.
 
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FrankFoot said:
In what world some homophobic sheiks will stop being homophobic just cause some footballers move to their country to play football.

The moment any of the foreign footballers try to engage the saudi fans with LGBT friendly content, that's the moment they get kicked out of the country, there is probably a agreement in their contracts that don't allow the players to talk about anything related to LGBT stuff while they are in SA.
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Where have I even insinuated they will? I said, that a player like Henderson going there might be able to convince some people, that the conditions for LGBT-people is rapidly improving. Not once have I entertained the thought that a mere footballer could or would be allowed to opportunity to influence an evil monarchy and its century-old values and traditions.
 
I don't remember reading or hearing any complaints from English club fans when the EPL throws money around to poach all the best players from other leagues. Leicester signing a Lyon player, Brighton signing a Dortmund player, Newcastle signing a AC Milan player, etc.

I guess buying your way into the top levels of football is only a problem when someone else does it.

Not a single person on here would say no to quadrupling their salaries by the way.
 
Iosif said:
I don't remember reading or hearing any complaints from English club fans when the EPL throws money around to poach all the best players from other leagues. Leicester signing a Lyon player, Brighton signing a Dortmund player, Newcastle signing a AC Milan player, etc.

I guess buying your way into the top levels of football is only a problem when someone else does it.

Not a single person on here would say no to quadrupling their salaries by the way.
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I absolutely would say no to a job offer from Saudi quadrupling my salary. I understand and respect that might not be the case for people earning significantly less than me but I do think it's problematic for footballers (who have already earned more than enough) to help sportswash autocracies.
 
The money they are spending is absolutely obscene.

But I must admit, it’s spectacular viewing watching EPL fans cry about it when the exact same thing has been happening here for years.

Absolute nothing clubs like Bournemouth having the capacity to outbid the likes of AC Milan for players should never be a thing, yet here we are.
 
Has anything been said about the 8 foreign players per club rule? That seems like a big barrier to continuing to grow the league. Al Ittihad and Al Ahli have already maxed their limit, Al Ettifaq about to max with Henderson signing, while Al Hilal and Al Nassr (as well as a few others) have only 1 spot left. Feels like they'll need to at the very least increase that foreign player limit if not remove it completely, but that seems unlikely to come into effect as soon as this season. Means we'll probably see an end to these deals pretty shortly as the government-funded clubs run out of places in their squads.
 
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