In only a few short months, soccer in the nation went from being largely unnoticed to receiving intense media coverage.The world at large was surprised to see Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr club in January following his exit at Manchester United.
In a bid to increase the sports participation, the Saudi government issued a decision to allow women attend football matches for the first time. The move was part of a larger effort to modernize and liberalize the conservative society and was met with both praise and criticism but nevertheless the first match with female attendance took place in January 2018 and was attended by over 3000 women. Since then, the numbers have increased significantly, with some matches seeing as many as 20,000 female spectators. Furthermore,the government even built standard stadiums, complete with prayer rooms and private restrooms to accommodate everyone.
In a twist of fate,Both the Ballon d’Or 2022 winner Karim Benzema and runner-up Sadio Mané are set to play in the league even Benzema as well has chosen a summer exit from Real Madrid to join Al Ittihad.
When Ronaldo debuted into the League, the country received massive boom from football TV rights leading to an exponential return in revenues. For most people, this move has been seen as a tactic,the government of Saudi is using to diversify the country’s economy by shifting to football.
Saudi as a country which has widely been a centre of religious activities and doesn’t seem to hold much chance to beckon the sporting highlights as some speculates that it goes against the Islamic law has held on to it’s willingness to embrace modernization and liberalisation through football
With Saudi billionaires investing heavily in football,the stakes are high that indeed Saudi pro league could be one of the favourite Leagues in the world
