Can Saudi Arabia Buy Football?

[@tonchigaming7238]

This "system" that the Saudi government is attempting to build is simply unsustainable. The backbone of the league which are domestic Saudi players, need play football abroad i.e in Europe in order to sharpen their skills and to bolster the overall strength of their national team. I always like to use the example of the J League which is not the most lucrative league for players like Ronaldo or Benzema (at least not anymore). However their league was grown more "organic" and almost every Japanese player that you see playing in Europe was trained in Japan i.e J1/J2. And this creates a reciprocal system where a lot of "seasoned" Japanese players go back to Japan so that they can share their knowledge and experience with their players/coaches etc...

[@JD-hx7yd]

I don't personally think they actually care about football. I think they just want to diversify their economy and become more domestically self sufficient.

[@lukealvarez3744]

@@JD-hx7yd in fairness they're national team especially for one in asia is very good. Its very hard to qualify for world cups and thyme done so for 2 editions in a row in 2018 and 2022 where of course they got that famous win over Argentina. I think Saudi Arabia has a lot of potential and I think a Saudi player will be in Europe soon maybe at Newcastle

[@maciejbala477]

@@lukealvarez3744 if I'm not mistaken, the rich Middle Eastern countries have a policy of not selling to clubs outside of the Middle East (I think Alfie might have said it in another video?). For instance the Qatar and Saudi Arabia international players at the WC are all playing domestically, or at least in the region. Which is a shame, because I'm sure they could play elsewhere too, but I don't think there's any way for them to improve if they don't change leagues and go to Europe

[@tylerlewis2766]

Quit looking at it as a sustainable football league and look at it as an measured investment in owning the biggest names in the sport for marketing purposes. They will pay for themselves in that and the work they'll do promoting Saudi Arabia that's written into the players contracts. They don't care about the sport just how much money they can squeeze from it

[@car9melo]

@@JD-hx7yd exactly, they are diversifying their wealth away from oil

[@Luke-zs3jx]

I must say, I had absolutely no idea that Norway had the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. Great research and video Alfie, once again HITC Sevens has shifted how I'll think now about football and politics more generally.

[@harrybellingham98]

theyre a leading oil nation with massive oil reserves in the north sea.... if it was for the UK idiocy Scotland would have a large portion of it too

[@kieronparr3403]

They've managed it very well by not doing things like this nonsense

[@nlptrckshmn5535]

@@harrybellingham98 well, if it wasn’t for UK’s idiocy the U.K. would have it too, not Scotland. Not saying that’s how I’d want it to be though.

[@Shortdood]

Oil money be crazy

[@Drunken_Master]

That just shows how ignorant you are.

[@marco_1909]

This probably ends up in the China way, however one thing people overlook is they also approached likes of Mark Clattenburg in 2018 to help develop their refereeing standards. The other day Michael Oliver was refereeing an Al Hilal match. They seemed to be making proper progress but the recent over expenditure on "washed" players undermines what they were doing before. IMO

[@bg22757]

I don't think China is a good comparison, the CCP regularly makes decisions on a whim, depending on the politics at the time. The Saudis seem far more calculated and think longer term.

[@nameanteater4772]

I would say that deciding to move investment after a few years into infrastructure and grass roots is the opposite of “on a whim”.

[@xcf5587]

Difference is though that the Saudis are probably a lot more financial stable at the moment, but ultimately need stuff like this to work in the long run as oil runs out. Can’t see them letting the whole project fall apart like the Chinese seem to have,

[@2MeatyOwlLegs]

@@bg22757 If they were thinking long term in this aspect they wouldn't be willing to spend 400 million dollars to sign Messi instead of actually building good infrastructure to foster positive change in their league. Instead they're throwing money at something and hope some shit will stick.

[@bg22757]

@@2MeatyOwlLegs not necessarily, it could be viewed as a sunk cost. At least in their estimation, signing the greatest player ever could be viewed as a worthy investment, and the dollar figures aren't particularly important to them. Will be interesting to see what happens regardless.

[@pothakamuri2880]

That true Geordie roast was unexpected but so deserved lmao

[@vinceo1058]

As an American who spends all his time not watching MLS, where am i going to find the time to not watch the Saudi league?

[@cccoolbucket1285]

sweet, a usl fan

[@scoobyskreep3518]

USL Champ through 2 are thé top 3 leagues in the world, shortly followed by the UPSL and NISA

[@chantetm4405]

another le rougue fan in the wild. never thought i’d see the day

[@myfasmarine]

Would be Detroit City lol Love it. Up the USL

[@lalitthapa101]

And people will still say "Politics out of football"🤦

[@adampark4238]

Can't remember a time football and politics aren't linked.

[@Jaxymann]

I do find it humourously hypocritical of what some people think constitutes "politics in sport": entire nation states buying football clubs to use as political tools in sportswashing their despotic regimes is completely kosher for them, but support for human & civic rights are lambasted as "ideological interference".

[@adampark4238]

@@mendozerms why

[@bababababababa6124]

@@mendozermswell judging by how everyone reacted to your comment you might be the one in need of a reality check 😂

[@soundscape26]

That reads "politics I don't like".

[@thibautnarme6402]

One correction on the Norway Sovereign Fund: It doesn't finance the Norwegian state (or really just at the margins). it is fed by oil money under the direction of the state but after that it just capitalizes, unlike what most of oil country of financing spendings for the state.

[@caro140209]

Unrelated story but that Norwegian Fund controls quite a lot of mines that contain gold near where i live in Colombia

[@lancinekeita4823]

I need some articles on this, that sounds like a juicy read

[@jlgaming3437]

😅😅😅😅😅

[@KingYahshua]

@@lancinekeita4823 same here! I’m no economics buff, but the concept of sovereign pension funds sounds fascinating.

[@gordonmcinnes8328]

Scotland could have had one too...

[@21hazza]

I noticed that not a single manager in the Saudi league is Saudi and despite Ronaldos presence the average attendance was only 9,000 That can't be good for them.

[@ZyadOsman1]

The Al-Nassr FC capacity is 25,000 and the average attendance is 17,638. Where are you getting your figures from?

[@21hazza]

@@ZyadOsman1 I was talking about the league as a whole, not just Al-Nassr

[@andrasszabo1570]

@@ZyadOsman1 The Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C. capacity is 25,000 and the average attendance is 818. Where are you getting your strawmen from?

[@nuudelz3711]

That’s brutal. Literally paying more than the Canadian Premier league will pay its players for the next 15 years for one guy when their attendance is the same 😂😂😂😂

[@andrasszabo1570]

@@nuudelz3711 That would mean something and it would justify the laughing crying emojis if they cared about money and efficiency at all. But this is not a business venture. They're not spending a single dollar to turn a profit.

[@thepeopleslibrary9345]

The success mls has had has been largely due to the fact that increasingly few of the DP signings fit the “old star that gets buts in seats” model, and instead the league has gone a long way to becoming a selling league. Both of young European talent, but also by signing younger south and Central Americans as DPs, developing them, and selling them on to Europe. Ironically, the clubs still still in the “Beckham” model have struggled. Toronto, LA Galaxy, and Chicago are awful.

[@jdrummerdd]

Also when clubs do sign bigger name players they are getting younger. Carlos vela, Sebastian Giovinco. Sure these guys aren’t top of the line European league players but they aren’t knocking on retirements door. Getting the last 5 decent years of a solid player is much better than 1 mediocre year from a legend.

[@Pravtok]

It's just a minor detail, but it's funny that you mentioned Stoichkov, as he did play a couple of games for Saudi side Al-Nassr in 1998, aged 32, before moving on to Japan's Kashiwa Reysol and finishing his career in the MLS, playing for Chicago Fire and DC United.

[@maciejbala477]

i mean, that wasn't really the point :) just that if the Premier League had signed him, it wouldn't really elevate the league on its own, you need also other things

[@Pravtok]

@@maciejbala477 btw, he was in negotiations to possibly sign for Newcastle United, but his time at Parma and second spell at Barça showed he was past his prime, so it never materialized.

[@nathanb286]

Only less than a week after this video, I think the Teixiera moment is happening. Ruben Neves is signing for Al Hilal after they paid €55 million to beat Barcelona

[@dghimkarim4200]

Barcelona never submitted an offer tho. Yes Ruben Dias is the texeira equivalent but barcelona's state is disasteous and so is their media outlets

[@hidingman3578]

Could say the same for Gabri Veiga. Still agree with Alfie though that these are exceptions to the rule instead of being the new rule.

[@aubreybenmark1369]

I never get sick of your voice Alfie, or your sarcasm. You've become my favorite voice in football!

[@leaguesmanoframsgate]

Proper comment: I'm a Toon fan. It felt typical of our fortunes that the dreadful, parsimonious, entirely mercenary ownership of Mike Ashley would be replaced by the vibrant, ambitious, go-getting ownership of the sovereign wealth fund of a nation that wants people like me rounded up and imprisoned. It also felt typical that this would happen right as football fans started to actually care, having been comparatively silent on the matter of big money from dodgy regimes coming into European football when it was from Russia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar. Of course, there aren't any ethical billionaires, because such a thing is categorically impossible. There are, however, degrees, and it is typical Toon that we got one of the worst, most morally bankrupt of the available options. Even when something good happens to the Toon, it is a poisoned chalice proffered by a devil with whom we've just dealt. Not an unreasonable take IMO. Now let me take a big sip of my drink and see what badly-tattooed pork homunculus True Geordie has to say-

[@Jermyn78]

TG will be too busy slagging off Connor McGregor as that seems to be his thing these days.

[@3lakesroad]

As a Toon fan from the US since the early 00's, I was extremely excited to see the takeover relative to the Ashley ownership, but it is equally distressing to know that the team is owned by a regime like the Saudi government. I agree with you on all of your points. Id love to see some silverware, but at what cost?

[@harambeepstein8009]

@@3lakesroad the problem lies with Man City as they are basically owned by the uae government

[@aaronkatzen4245]

i'm a man utd fan it looks like were about to join the club with qatar

[@petesmart1983]

But being realistic if they established Saudi league, they would get rid of Newcastle or with there political learning towards china and Russia becoming closer . Newcastle could end up going bust long term

[@KingYahshua]

Part of me thinks that Oscar is genuinely enjoying his time in China. It’s quite incredible that he’s been there for the past 6 years. If he was absolutely in it just for the money, he’d get his paycheck and leave to play for the next top bidder.

[@torernning8652]

I just scratched my left testicle. Tomorrow I deal with the right one.

[@bababababababa6124]

Tactical moves 💯

[@TheKaczmarr]

Good luck

[@mnm5165]

“I am Jose Mourinho”

[@LordOfTrololoGames]

Always wondered if viewership of CSL increased after big signings, glad I didn't have to look for it myself. Great video, amazing job Alfie!

[@petesmart1983]

2019 they were getting around 200m viewership and this was after most the stars left, bigger than anywhere else

[@Alinamartinez--]

​@@petesmart1983their population is over a billion so it's understandable

[@marienbad2]

One thing these countries don't seem to understand is that football belongs to the fans and you can't buy that.

[@howgoodistravel]

That's the biggest thing right there.

[@GorgeDawes]

They are going to try!

[@nameanteater4772]

That’s what you think, but what power does any fan base have over their club, their owners and footballing bodies. Football has been taken from the people kong before now

[@nuudelz3711]

@@nameanteater4772 simple. Fans aren’t going to follow the players. How quickly does your favourite player become public enemy number one in a transfer window? No one cares about and there is no integrity or history with Saudi teams.

[@petesmart1983]

Football used to belong to the fans the creation of the premier League changed footballaround the world. It's all a big buissness now

[@leobestbote4244]

I must say im impressed by how much you cover in these videos, as soon as I get the notification i click at once no questions asked, thats just how good you are thanks mate for these

[@Jay-in6dl]

The thing is, signing Kante for that kind of money is insane because nobody is going to start watching the Saudi league because of him. They forget that (European/South American) people support teams, not players. We are seeing lots of African, Arab, and Asian people online follow players, having dedicated accounts and trying to point score all the time (which you can see under Fabrizio Romano’s tweets).

[@augustdreier6595]

i really enjoy your more political videos. You always lay them out very clearly and really relate football back to the real world.

[@Evemeister12]

Along with Tifo Football, this channel excels at that sort of thing.

[@badly_dubbed2401]

Fan boys who follow games just to watch one player, who's well past their prime, are the worst type of fans. They don't understand football.

[@al3ndlib]

Things that intentionally was left out because it doesn’t serve the narrative: 1- Saudi teams weren’t privatized and had to rely on donations from rich people until a week ago. Thats why they weren’t that developed like they were supposed too. 2- Football is the only main sport in Saudi and the whole Middle East, unlike China and the US, so comparing both leagues to Saudi league would never make sense. 3- Saudi league has the best Air time 5-11 pm to Europe, and most of Africa and Asia. Unlike China and the US, which has like 8+ hours difference with the most of the planet, not to mention that both the US and China have 5 different time zones each. Which makes it impossible to keep up as international fan. 4- Saudi league is already the most popular amongst Arabs in Middle East and North Africa. 5- Saudi teams are the best in Asia, for example Al Hilal is Ranked 1st with 8 Asian titles. 6- after CR7 came, more than 37 channels in more than 125 countries now broadcast the Saudi league. That’s before Benzema and the hundreds of superstars that would follow him. 7-Butthurt Europeans would call it sport washing. Yet that’s exactly what Europe has been doing for more than a century. 8- Saudi League would become top 3 leagues within 10 years overcoming Italian League, and French League. And the best thing about it is Europe/ America could hate about it all they want yet they can’t and will not do anything about it.

[@alamo134]

Yeah, sportwashing is indeed used by European to 'attack' this. With so many sweatshop usage they have in their own world, hypocrite would be proper word for them. Heck, slavery is also a thing there and none calls for it.

[@felipefelipe6406]

Gonna save this to come back in 10 years

[@al3ndlib]

@@alamo134 Shaming is a defense mechanism for them, you know why?! Because they have emasculated most of the western men and pushed the cowards for the leadership. They ended up with governments that could only gossip, criticize, shame, plot, deceive…etc. Which all of them are unmasculine traits unfortunately.

[@al3ndlib]

@@felipefelipe6406 please do!! I actually have taken a screenshot and saved the comment in a note to check in a few years.

[@andresmcjr]

​@@al3ndlibyeah and what young european/Brazilian/African talent would wanna live in there? No alcohol, no fun, if ur gay nahhh, if you're a woman nahhh, only fake culture-less glass cities that have no history to them, ridiculous temps not to mention walking on eggshells as saying the wrong thing can get you the death penalty

[@BALHAM69]

a documentary of Borussia Dortmund and how they were extremely close to bankruptcy in 2002 time and how Bayern had to save them. The extreme difficulties the club has had to manage within to get back to where they are #thepeopleschannel

[@adampark4238]

Definitely a couple German videos would be brilliant.

[@BALHAM69]

@@adampark4238 thank you Yea, up to Alfie Will be interesting to see which players go Saudi Arabia this summer :)

[@adampark4238]

@Balham would like a kaiserslautren update video now they are starting to do better.

[@BALHAM69]

@@adampark4238 very true They are in Bundesliga two now :)

[@adampark4238]

@Balham I lived in the westerwald and worked with a kaiserslautren fan so I picked them as my German team. I have a soft spot for bvb though because of Paul Lambert he left my team to join bvb.

[@jebbo-c1l]

5 years from now I predict the money stops after seeing no tangible results like in China. I also predict MLS will continue to rise in popularity particularly after the 2026 world cup, potentially even becoming a top 10 league like the Saudis wanted

[@harrybellingham98]

you dont get it, before ronaldo when did you even talk about the Saudi league? MLS has some sembalance of popularity esp in north america and Canadians will also travel to watch games and stars they cant do in Europe. Asia is a massive and people will and are travelling 1000s of miles just to see CR7. They dont have to do much to get large amounts of money just from Asian countries.

[@RUSHLAD98]

@@harrybellingham98 Before Oscar when did we talk about the Chinese League and now look at it

[@harrybellingham98]

@@RUSHLAD98 oscar is not cr7. and Alfie shows exactly why the chinese gov and the SA gov are very different in their approach to sports

[@SplaterYT]

@@RUSHLAD98 let’s be one at Oscar can’t be compared to CR7

[@automata1582]

Saudi Arabia will never become a football superpower alone on the basis that no one besides a Muslim would want to live there. A football career might span 15 years and no one would want to spend all that time in a country without basic freedoom. I would rather take Messi's contracts at Miami (reportedly 43 million pounds, pay half of that back in taxes) and live there than making 5 times as much in Saudi Arabia (with no taxes). There's only that much money you can spend and save for your family for them to live carefree for the rest of their lifes. I can't imagine a promising 22 year old future star from Brazil or France, spending their youth in a country where there is no alcohol, no fun, no freedom and question everyday "wait, can I say that or will I face the death penalty?".

[@albertmiller2electricbooga897]

Love the use of Sachin as the 'century" image

[@AGrandGooner]

We really need a “what on earth” video about what’s going on in the French 2nd division. It’s a nightmare scenario involving FC Annecy and Rodez due to a Bordeaux fan invaliding the pitch and attacking a Rodez player, therefore suspending the match and putting the final relegation spot into question. FC Annecy has already openly accused the Rodez player of faking his injury after being attacked by a fan to try and secure Rodez the three points and keep them up, therefore relegating Annecy. It’ll probably have a really messy ending invoking some law suits, and it’ll be really entertaining to watch and see how things unfold.

[@AAA1964SAK]

First of all we Saudis know that these players are coming for the money. Second of all the goal of this is not to compete with the European leagues because that is almost not possible, the goal is to get our young players who are absolute quality to get some first hand experience while playing next to these big names while also getting some exposure from a worldwide audience since teams abroad have a preconceived idea about Saudi players that we all know and don’t need to talk about , also the plan is to sign top coaches and physical and youth trainers too so they can share some of their ideas with local saudi teams. In the end the players are totally free to accept these contracts, the saudi people are totally entitled to watch top tier football. Football is an “international game” but when ever other nations from Asia and Africa try to get in on the action everyone gets triggered and angry.

[@furorceltica185]

Everyone predicts Saudi league will fail like China, but little did they know that compared to China, Saudi's football culture is much bigger

[@GiustinoColameo]

@@furorceltica185 he literally mentions this in the video

[@NephilimHunter1959]

I have no problem with anyone getting into football what people have a problem with is that interested is being funnelled by a brutal dictatorship that will kill and torture anyone who says anything bad about and treat human rights as a joke.

[@MrJoyoverkill]

the goal is to sports wash human rights abuse

[@gratefulkm]

Liverpool are the Greatest Football team in England, Why ? Money , nope, Success, nope power, nope The game going supporters ? Yes and money cant buy that Most European football fans know long term success is determined by the Fans Short term success is achieved via money That's why Chelsea, Man City will only be around a little while going to The Etihad is like seeing mass paid for mourners

[@ivaneurope]

It's not just football or golf that the Saudi PIF is targeting - Formula One is also in their sights, and could target even the Olympic Games (they'll host the 2029 Asian WINTER Games - you heard that correctly). And considering that they have (alegedly) bottomless pit of cash, as far as they are concerned, they can own whatever they want, whenever they want. This is no different to when the Chinese were doing exactly the same thing (at least in football)

[@AntoniusTyas]

F1 is already in their hand. While FIA's president is from UAE, F1 already have deals with Aramco as one of their main sponsor as well as Saudia GP.

[@soundscape26]

@@AntoniusTyas For now F1 is still in American hands but yes, that doesn't stop the Saudi's to try and have a greater influence on the sport.

[@aladdin3241]

You do know that winter games are mostly either indoors or use artificial snow? Also there parts of Saudi that has snow or Cold temperatures in winter

[@victorhino26]

Aye. And if i might add,they also got their grubby hand on professional wrestling (if you want to categorize it as sport) the wwe usually had some shows/ppv over there.

[@petesmart1983]

There is a difference china has always been a massive sporting nation, Saudi has never been a sporting nation which is a huge difference

[@howgoodistravel]

Appreciate the nod to cricket while using the word century.

[@basitsnake]

I think one key thing also separating Saudi's from the chinese is club performance on a continental level. I dont like this big name "showcase" signing stuff, but they have a base. That said, the recent PIF's collective buying of saudi football's top 4 clubs (which include historic rivals) did put a blot on that

[@FlamingWalrus317]

The title of this video really scared me given the PGA's capitulation to Saudi Arabia, but your analysis has given me some piece of mind for sure. Great video as always!

[@buffaloslamhd8380]

Why would Al Hilal want Messi when they already have Ighalo

[@buffaloslamhd8380]

@@bababababababa6124 it was a joke 😂

[@bababababababa6124]

@@buffaloslamhd8380my bad bro, I deleted it

[@komiteunofficialaccount9224]

Benzema is probably one of the few marquee player purchases by Saudi clubs that made sense. Muslim football superstar, perfect for improving the Saudi brand to its allies and/or Muslim-majority countries. I don't get how the other signings will improve the country's image, though. Ronaldo's transfer tasted way 'sourer' compared to Messi's PSG/Inter Miami move.

[@ZyadOsman1]

I must say that the funding of the Saudi League is indeed sustainable. Unlike China, where football is not as deeply ingrained in the culture, Saudi Arabia has a genuine love for the sport. Football has been a significant part of Saudi Arabian society for decades, with a passionate fan base that supports their local teams fervently.

[@liamfraserobrien]

Not at the prices they are paying though no club globally can justify that. It’s bread and circuses from the king and appears to be a pissing contest at present between kings of the Middle East. They’d be better off putting their money in a massive tracker like the Norwegians do look at all the money they wasted with SoftBank.

[@GNeves302]

So do plenty of other countries, but unless the state keeps pumping money into it, it's not sustainable. This amount of money is never gonna pay itself back just because of a "passionate fanbase".

[@kaliou6645]

31:45 😅That "wouu" from Alfie made my day😂😂👨🏻‍🦲👊🏻

[@metam.devad.neimte9212]

ساعات تانكيو

[@TheKingOfSting32]

The best part of this video was the absolute ripping of True Geordie. 😂😂😂 Well done, Alfie. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@bharatavarsha17000]

Great video ⭐

[@MrReese]

They can't buy world football, but they certainly can buy players. The fact that Kanté apparently chose to go there is...unbelievable. I am not surprised about Ronaldo, certainly not about Benzema who has no conscience anyway, but Kanté...that is terrible. Anyway, none of the players of the Austrian Wunderteam could be bought (or maybe some could, but we will only find out once the video is released)! 😇✌

[@mfbjo6854]

Can't they though? How long before UEFA's greed overflows and Saudi Arabia is added to European conpetitions?

[@krystianlato8919]

What do you mean terrible? This man has some injury problems, he also won propably everything footballer can win. So if there's opportunity to earn enough money for your grandchildren generation then why don't take it?

[@MrReese]

@@krystianlato8919 He had a very clean image before that move. He also already has enough money for his grandchildren.

[@radzevicius1039]

@@MrReese Who are you to say that he has enough money for grandchildren of his? How do you even know how much money he has and what he does with it?

[@MrReese]

@@radzevicius1039 Who are you to say he hasn't when he has been earning like 10+ mil a year? Get a reality check.

[@TheRadPlayer]

Benzema's wife isn't going to be happy when she's arrested for being outside without a male guardian, and then given lashes as punishment.

[@patrickracer43]

The reason why the MLS is successful overall while Saudi Arabia and China aren't is because while the league gets big names like Beckham or Messi in attractive markets like Los Angeles or Miami, the other teams in the league are able to compete, as evidenced by the fact that last year's MLS Cup Final was between Philadelphia Union and LAFC, Inter Miami finished the MLS season 14th in the eastern conference with 9 wins, while FC Cincinnati entered the MLS playoffs as the number one seed in the Eastern conference and with the best record with 20 wins, 9 draws and 5 losses, 69 points (nice), and a +18 goal differential meanwhile in the Western conference St Louis City SC is the one seed in it's conference, and Cincinnati and St Louis aren't "sexy" cities

[@okyy2]

Stop spreading this nonsense propaganda. I'm from Saudi and our national team and clubs dominate Asia, but whenever we face European or South American teams our players cant handle the pressure and we end up underperforming every time. This is why Saudi Arabia is signing contracts with these big names, to elevate the local players in the Saudi league itself. Because the local players rarely face any big names in football, and now they have a chance to do that, and be more collected against teams of high calibrate players, because there is non in our region currently.

[@armstrongmcbaye5986]

Been waiting for you to do this one for a while. I knew it's something you would address.

[@DemonetisedZone]

It's a sad inditement of our media that one of the people doing most to inform ordinary people about politics is a guy who makes football videos on KZbin Brilliant video Alfie mate👍

[@oceansarchived]

i don’t think these leagues can ever compete with europe. whilst money is huge in todays game, there’s a level of passion and authenticity from the fans and having roots to your club. maybe i’m wrong, but it feels inevitable for them to end up like china.

[@GreekHouseEffect]

what makes you think that there's more authenticity and passion in modern Premier League or Europe in general than other parts of the world?

[@CarlosMartinez-vk4nd]

@@GreekHouseEffect more viewership and more prestige with a long history of football heritage in europe

[@GreekHouseEffect]

@@CarlosMartinez-vk4nd more viewership=more passion and authenticity???

[@CarlosMartinez-vk4nd]

@Antonis Fokas they also have passion as well. If they didn't have passion, europe wouldn't be the powerhouse of football

[@donk5079]

​​@@CarlosMartinez-vk4nd Quite the Eurocentric ain't ya?

[@harrybellingham98]

I dont understand why ppl think they need european money to be a successful league? There is massive wealth in Asia, ppl are travelling 1000s of miles just to see CR7. They dont have to dominate european football but they can dominate Asian and create their own kind of super league.

[@OfficialFingazMC]

Shots fired at true Geordie, go on Alfie lad!

[@gofannon1943]

What hellish greed. I will never get over that the UK and PFA allowed regimes that treat women and gays as subhuman to buy English clubs. I will never support or watch or respect these teams, and as a diehard football fan it breaks my heart.

[@seans4961]

I do think eventually they will change to the Saudi league being filled with the best older Muslim players. Players like Salah would be so loved in Saudi Arabia as an Arab and Muslim.

[@ItsJesssee]

Saudi Arabia clubs Needs to be restricted to some certain level in my opinion cause the money thrown around isn’t fair or good for the club..

[@bababababababa6124]

Let me translate this comment: “football leagues outside of Europe shouldn’t be allowed to spend money like we do” 😂😂 I don’t support Saudi or anything but your comment is lowkey hypocritical. You should tell that to the big 5 leagues in Europe 😂

[@mnm5165]

Tell that to the Premier League ☠️

[@superdog736]

​@@bababababababa6124The issue is the second state funding stops, the clubs won't have the revenue streams to pay for insanely inflated wages.

[@bababababababa6124]

@@superdog736rue, that is a huge issue that will most likely inevitably happen to Saudis biggest clubs if they suffer the same fate as the Chinese Super League. But this guy saying that they need to be “restricted” is incredibly hypocritical and Eurocentric, as what Saudi Arabia is doing now is not too dissimilar to what the biggest leagues in Europe have been doing for decades now. Europeans need to remember that they don’t own the sport, other countries like China and Saudi are simply trying to catch up and match the success of Europes big leagues.

[@stivstilianos980]

Will the 2030 world Cup be in Saudi Arabia-Egypt- Greece?

[@jhaych]

Saudi due to money etc

[@KOTDM1988]

​@@jhaych it's a joint bid between the three countries

[@bababababababa6124]

@@KOTDM1988absolutely no way those three countries will host together though, that’s just a fever dream ☠️ let’s be real

[@jhaych]

​@@KOTDM1988 yeah I think they'll just have it in Saudi personally

[@jhaych]

​@@KOTDM1988 i think the bid will change you see

[@jazzrockr]

For the record. the LIV Golf/PGA Tour merger has only been proposed. It's almost certainly going tot be blocked, even by the words of the best merger-friendly judges and experts here in the USA.

[@bababababababa6124]

You can buy anything if you put your mind to it

[@JM-tj5qm]

They couldn't buy Messi tho

[@bababababababa6124]

@@JM-tj5qmthey didn’t put their minds to it

[@dricardkr]

@@bababababababa6124 🤣🤣🤣😂

[@JM-tj5qm]

@@bababababababa6124 They really did. After Messi confirmed the move to the US. They went crazy and offered even more money. Messi just doesn't want to go there, for any price. That's it.

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

Nice video. Keep up the good work.

[@Maniz9]

I’m an American Ronaldo fan, but happy as can be messi is in the MLS

[@bri1085]

That man is never playing in the MLS, or even visiting the US.

[@archstanton6102]

​@bri1085 Messi or Ronaldo? Messi definitely coming. Ticket prices for IM away games are vastly overpriced.

[@bri1085]

@@archstanton6102 No the one that's pretty actively avoiding the states because of that one thing he did there.

[@mamamiaherewegoagain6959]

No matter how much money you pay someone to play in your league, there has only been a handful of footballers who actually attract that many viewers, and has the talent to make a 100m+ a year salary worth it. And you'll sooner run out of money and motivation to overpay stars, than actually improve the talent in your league and creating an attractive football product

[@andrew27]

Excellent video, very informative, thanks

[@metam.devad.neimte9212]

اوكي فرعي البنك الوطني العماني ما هوه الاعلان وما هوه الاعمل انتو قيمين عليها انتو رابي يخليكم بدي تطبيق جيد للمال أي نوع من التعليق ولكم كل الاحترام والتقدير

[@abdulrahmanj8824]

Al Hilal from Saudi actually played the fifa World Cup final vs Real Madrid this year. They beat Flamengo

[@mafiousbj]

Ah yes, a deep dive into a controversial topic to listen in the background while I work at home. Exactly what I always expect from this channel :)

[@NaZtRdAmUs]

Money >>>> Morals this is the world we live in.

[@user-hc1me1ep8k]

Imagine talking about UK parliament when covering Harry Kane’s transfer to Man U.

[@ryanweedon6222]

Great video Alfie! Fans don't watch *just* Benzema or *just* Ronaldo, they watch the football they play. The SaudiPL will never have the skill, history, rivalries of established leagues as they just want marquee players. I also very much doubt they'll genuinely invest in domestic player growth to an extent which rivals even small, football-strong nations like Belgium, Croatia, Iceland, Morocco etc. It won't challenge the Big 5 leagues because they'll probably only ever face those teams in useless friendlies or the CWC - which is a lower tier trophy for those Eur/SA clubs vs. the UCL / Copa. Having a political environment which won't tolerate chanting, flares, ultras (whether you personally like them or not) and- you know - basic human rights for dissenters, women or the LGBTQ+ community - will mean they'll never be taken seriously by actual fans no matter how many World Cup hosting bids, or even trophies, they win.

[@williamdoughty3742]

Saudi football teams do already have ultras and chants

[@lukashradecky5492]

The Club World Cup has higher prestige in South America tho. Also compared to another country spending on big names like China, KSA were actually an establish good team in Asia unlike China who have been losing to teams like Vietnam

[@FourLightsOfficial]

What makes an "actual fan"? Do you have to be on TalkSport or Sky? Or do you have to spend a certain amount on food at the ground, or even get a tattoo of your club, or is it when you see a certain amount of games? It's not like I won't take them seriously because of their treatment of certain people, if that were the case I probably couldn't support any team, definitely not a European team. I can understand people criticizing Saudi treatment of rainbow. But to prioritize that over the murder of thousands of innocents, you're all twisted and are following the Zeitgeist for plaudits. No-one criticised Jadon Sancho for joining an English club. No-one is criticising Messi for joining the US either, why? We know the US constantly engages in illegal wars half way across the globe, or, as the case is currently, multiple illegal wars. But you won't get a pat on the back for criticizing the US in the same way as you do Saudi. Criticize Saudi for the murders of thousands of Yemeni children. But criticize America for supporting them and the UK for supplying them weapons. They're all knowingly complicit in murder and you go along with it distracting people from life and death issues to focus on rainbow rights. If the US/ UK cared about rainbow in earnest, they wouldn't do trade with Saudi. If the UK/ US cared about people, they wouldn't be an arms dealer/ manufacturer. Let alone THE arms dealer. Again, let's not criticise any of the English/ American clubs because it's not flavour of the month.

[@chrisfrank2664]

To add on that, the league won’t have networks competing with bids to the rights to broadcast league. As NBC pays over Billion dollars/pounds for Premier League in US, as PL receives so much money for tv rights from all over world.

[@Parker_Douglas]

@@FourLightsOfficial obsessed you are we don’t need a history lesson 🤡

[@ethandalton6480]

Somebody should write a book about Neil Franklin and how his England career ended by moving to Colombia... 🤔

[@archstanton6102]

That sounds a good idea.

[@obitodmg5694]

Benzema will be paid much more than the entire Napoli squad. Napoli won the Serie A, and reached the UCL quarter finals, but Benzema is paid more than the whole squad.

[@Unclekase]

"Norway is pumping up money to fix its healthcare", in an ironic sense, while Alfie 3 mins ago said that Saudi Arabia already has free universal healthcare system. The fact that one country does some things bad, doesn't mean that they're doing everything bad. Stop pushing that thing. And obviously it's extremely bad to not have the basic human rights, no question about that, but don't even start on "wars in Yemen" and stuff. USA, Britain, and so many other nations, have done multiple wars, on foreign soil nonetheless. Just because it didn't happen 2 years ago, doesn't mean it has never happened...

[@oyasuminasaitaly]

The description of the "Teixeira moment" and the reference to the golf system escalation are very interesting and I'm going to list some uthopian/disthopian further moments: * "Teixeira moment" reached and overcome; big players go to the Saudi Arabia league at the peak of their career on a regular basis. * "Saudi Arabia's teams reaching, then winning, the FIFA World Cup" moments. * "A Super League is created in Saudi Arabia" moment or * "A Super League is created between Saudi Arabian and European clubs moment" or * It works for sometime ("sportwashing" is the new "panem et circences") but then the bubble bursts, as per 1970s MSL and Chinese Super League examples. Popular revolution in Arabia. Saudi Arabia's panem et circenses is Berlusconi at nth power.

[@JackGD1991]

Rosenborg to sign Modric 😂 Great video as always Alfie.

[@anurondeka7239]

I wonder if anyone else understood the more than a century image. Brilliant ❤️

[@swaffelkonijn5166]

They said the Chinese were going to buy football a few years ago and that has gone to the dogs as well.

[@BardiaSaeedi]

Yeah but they bought idiots like Tevez

[@metam.devad.neimte9212]

السلام البنك الوطني العماني

[@swaffelkonijn5166]

@@metam.devad.neimte9212 I can't read your silly language

[@jvlicious]

Very meaningful analysis w/ a smattering of cheek... Am all for it 👍👍 Would love to hear the balance 30,40 % of what you planned to discuss in a followup video 🤗

[@WrexhamToThePrem]

Can you do a video on the remarkable rise of FC Heidenheim

[@NanobanaKinako]

Fun Fact: The Saudi League is a Premier League wannabe.

[@muneebahmad4378]

4:45 I never thought I'd see Sachin here 😭

[@dominiklemke3726]

Brilliant video, yet again. Hope you'll never stop doing these kinds of videos 🎉👏

[@danmorrison8194]

Interesting video. Maybe the slow build like the MLS is the way to go. I mean… as a soccer (yeah, I said it) fan here in the US, I hope that’s the case.

[@Zimley]

I feel as though the mls will grow to maybe the top 7-10th league in the world but the no relegation will hold it back

[@paulverdon4989]

Can see MLS reaching Belgium, Scotland, Ukraine, Russia, Austria and Turkey standard just below the Dutch and Portuguese league

[@metam.devad.neimte9212]

البنك المركزي العماني

[@Edgar...]

@@Zimley The restrictive salary cap and weird financial rules are holding back the league more than any promotion and relegation ever will. Other American leagues with no relegation or promotion ever have no problem attracting talent and being incredibly wealthy.

[@RankinMsP]

You almost make Hull my second team. 😊 Keep up the good work

[@tuckerbugeater]

Messi chose America so he could evade taxes without being put to death.

[@JoeChampion-w7y]

If the same activities were done by western countries then media wouldn't have battered an eye lid ?? Why such a negative attitude towards Saudis?? If they wanted to throw money then let them carry on. MONEY TALKS

[@man4437]

I don't know, I think it's somewhat regrettable that any entity can attempt to "buy football". I agree that a lot of the complaints are very surface-level and (borderline) xenophobic, but I think it's entirely legitimate to oppose a reactionary monarchy spending hundreds of millions to do that. Most football fans are pretty much content to go "rah rah football shouldn't be about money" and completely ignore that in a capitalist society, that's going to happen - especially in a sport as popular as football - and is part of the reason why the sport is as good as it is. I just don't like this idea that a repressive monarch flexing his capital to make even more billions (or, just sportswash) is completely value-neutral. At the end of the day, the problem is purely the economic system and the perverse incentives it creates to push athletes to be second-hand PR figures for a frankly terrible government.

[@M7MD.92s]

@@man4437 As a Saudi citizen, we don't give a **t about your opinions, we like our king, gov, and the government system, and IT'S OUR MONEY. so next time try to get the information about my country from a trusted source.

[@man4437]

​@@M7MD.92sI find it hard to believe you would accept this reasoning from someone else

[@Alinamartinez--]

​@@M7MD.92sSaudi bot

[@M7MD.92s]

@@Alinamartinez-- Really! 😂

[@joaodejesus3762]

The reason these leagues never go anywhere is because despite loving players like Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, if they were born in Saudi Arabia or China they wouldn't be footballers

[@joaodejesus3762]

@Charles and immediately dropped in the group stage in 5 of them. Being the best of the worst doesn't mean you're good

[@nas84payne]

Another great video. Just the culture alone makes it very unappealing for a lot of players to want to go there. They have a fair amount of passionate fans like anywhere else, but they haven’t got a football heritage/culture. The league gonna fail like in other countries before it.

[@Vivi_dream123]

I love your channel SO MUCH

[@antslb]

Great take on the role of football on trying to control the population. But i must say that i don't understand why you didn't provide us with Vini Jr. video. Still in awe. Go for it Alfie!

[@jessymangala78]

Racism is less important to him compared to his leftist views

[@dazwebster]

Great vid Alfie. Well researched

[@skapenguin]

Alfie always dropping bangers.

[@yaserkhalid4867]

Great video, very informative

[@sasinator6918]

That true geordie roast was amazing, made sticking through this video to the end so much more worth it.

[@nsc_ronan]

Bit of a point of order on MLS DPs, it's becoming increasingly rare to use them on "retirement league" players. There's still a few of them, sure, but over the past half decade or so, DP slots have been increasingly used on younger players from South America and Europe

[@GenghisKool]

Side note: The delivery on calling Norway "short-sighted buffoons" was hysterical.

[@symptomofsouls]

Within a week of you uploading this video, Al Hilal just signed Ruben Neves

[@mtty34]

I think it will die off after this generation of players like the Chinese Super League. The culture, both socially and in a football sense, is so different in the Middle East that I don’t see a lot of players going there. They’ll just keep investing in the western game when it doesn’t work

[@ArturVader]

Hopefully...

[@williamdoughty3742]

Plenty of great Muslim footballers who would be happy to live in the birthplace of Islam

[@Tarcisio_Reed]

​@@williamdoughty3742 indeed

[@mtty34]

@@williamdoughty3742 The political and religious situation will stop a lot of people going. Muslim or not the money isn’t worth it for a lot of people. I’d argue most footballers in their prime will play in Europe/South America still.

[@basitsnake]

Unlike china, Saudi clubs have a history of dominance in the asian continental game. Therein lies the difference.

[@andreichiriac7823]

The story of Farul Constanța romanian champions this season winning their first (or maybe second?) title. Club owned, run and managed by romanian legend Gheorghe Hagi, a native of the city of Constanța. Youngest champions in Europe this season (average players age), important contribution (some of the vital) from: 2 players born in 2005, one in 2006, 1 in 2003 and 3 in 2002 - all products of the club academy. Came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the decisive match against Gigi Becali's team FCSB(who has a claim to Steaua Bucharest history).

[@dghimkarim4200]

I followed Farul this season as a passionate football fan. I don't know if you are a fan of this team or not but congratulations mate this is the essence of football and this is what we crave

[@andreichiriac7823]

@@dghimkarim4200 thank you! I can't say I am a fan of Farul, but I definitely liked their team this year. Glad to see that people from other countries are following Romanian football though :)

[@aaronnilestoussaint5672]

Im confused as to why they dont literally invest that money into buying talent instead of buying one big name. They literally couldve used that 100 mill brought up South American and African youth and literally have a top tier league 5 years into the future? Why overpay there has to be ownership of players names or something on that lines in these deals. Because it doesnt seem logical to waste money on older talent. And theyre rumored to want Allegri why not try to sign promising managers like Ruben and Xabi?

[@Edgar...]

I agree that buying young talent is a better strategy but even then developing said young talent would be difficult as well. You can't just have your promising young players playing other young players, they need to play against top tier mature talent as well to truly develop. So you would need to send some of your talented youngsters abroad to Europe to truly develop their best. But then who would play in the league as your talent develops in Europe? They would also need to develop proper academies, hire actual elite trainers and tacticians. But all this would require a long term vision, but Saudi Arabia wants results now.

[@wiellie6718]

Nice video again Alfie. Love your voice and critisism.

[@markpeter506]

True Geordie absolutely BTFO’d at the end of the video 😂

[@DanielSanchezOjalvo]

As a Colombian, I gotta say I have no effing clue what city you used in your montage. Still, El Dorado is a f*cking amazing story.

[@ryanjacobs836]

You should really make a video on Lens, they’ve gone from league 2 to #2 in League 1 in 3 seasons and I want to understand how they did it

[@maciejbala477]

He said he is already working on one I think? if he isn't i imagine he will

[@kuroazrem5376]

Thanks for naming Colombia. Few people, even here, know about El Dorado of the 50's.

[@ripvanwinkle91]

Not a fan of either but MLS has a higher chance of gaining more growth and viewers than the SPL tbh,especially because players like alphonso davies and matt turner going from mls to european giants like bayern munich and arsenal

[@danieleatwell7757]

Video Suggestion: Who were the favourites for the title going into every premier league season?

[@craigpointon8394]

love your work alfie. love it mate

[@anibaban2002]

Letsss gooo. I was waiting for this video to drop after all the Saudi drama