<\/p>\nSaudi Arabia makes no secret of its use of football to transform and meet the societal demand of a youth-skewed demographic. It is also using football to influence a change in attitude towards the country internationally.<\/p>\n
Saudi is widely expected to be awarded the hosting rights for the next Club World Cup in 2029. That is something of a no-brainer as Saudi Arabia are pretty much the only country that has shown unequivocal love for the competition, and a willingness to spend its money demonstrating that.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia will host the World Cup in 2034.<\/p>\n
No value has been given for the 2025 Club World Cup partnership which was blandly described as reflecting \u201cFIFA and PIF\u2019s shared vision to enable greater participation in sports by unlocking new opportunities, fostering innovation and engaging fans around the world. With a focus on youth, the partnership will provide opportunities for young people, supporting FIFA in its efforts to engage and inspire at a grassroots level.\u201d<\/p>\n
With no concrete marketing activation or outcome attached to the money rather than the vague and over-used \u2018inspiring grassroots engagement\u2019 line (grassroots have been engaged by the game for decades), the only conclusion can be PIF is just giving FIFA a wad of cash with no strings attached. PIF\u2019s primary mission is theoretically to invest in businesses and use the state\u2019s money to generate further income as it expands its economy and national opportunity beyond its petrochemical base. PIF is not using the FIFA investment to promote any of its other businesses.<\/p>\n
Hence the money to FIFA looks like a charity donation that saves FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino\u2019s embarrassment over a tournament that has singularly failed to attract the attention and enthusiasm of a football public. A public that is considerably more discerning than FIFA gives it credit for.<\/p>\n
The Saudis can\u2019t be blamed for this. They have embraced the change they feel football can bring to their country and used their wells of cash to make it happen. In Infantino they have found a willing, complaint and malleable receptacle with no questions asked or demands made \u2013 \u2018just show me the money\u2019 should perhaps be FIFA\u2019s more apt slogan for the Club World Cup.<\/p>\n
FIFA is slavishly following the line \u2013 it is even driving its marketing speak \u2013 that its vision is to \u2018make football global\u2019. So what happened to the \u2018world\u2019s game\u2019 and \u2018the people\u2019s game\u2019 and \u2018the beautiful game\u2019 that has been honoured, celebrated and respected for coming up to 100 years of World Cup football?<\/p>\n
Romy Gai, Chief Business Officer at FIFA, said:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cWe are delighted to welcome PIF as a partner of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025. Together, we look forward to delivering a historic tournament that inspires and unites fans from around the world.<\/p>\n\u201cThe partners of the first-ever 32-team FIFA Club World Cup believe in our vision to make football truly global. Their support of the tournament will not only be integral to its success but will underpin investment in supporting the development of club football everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mohammed AlSayyad, Head of Corporate Brand at PIF,\u00a0<\/strong>give more focus to what being the \u2018main sponsor\u2019 of the tournament means, saying: \u201cPIF is creating a legacy of transformative impact in sports including through its partnerships, delivering positive and lasting results at every level, from players and fans to host communities.<\/p>\n\u201cPIF is at the forefront of growing football around the world following our Concacaf partnership announced last year and our continued investment in football. We are unlocking opportunities to drive the growth of the sport around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The subtext is that PIF is securing Saudi Arabia\u2019s position at the top table of global football hosting -and good for them if they also use it to clean up their human rights record meaningfully.<\/p>\n
The danger for football is that along the way it creates a split not unlike that seen currently in golf, where the elite game becomes perceptionally devalued (despite a huge influx of money) and confused over its identity.<\/p>\n
FIFA in its insatiable lust for money, power and control with no regard for anyone else in football is in danger of forcing the creation of a similar rift in football \u2013 how, for example, does the Club World Cup benefit Concacaf and its Gold Cup that it is programming directly against in a region that is giving FIFA so much?<\/p>\n
But like in golf, people and clubs at all levels below FIFA\u2019s ivory tower will continue to love, play and watch the game whether FIFA are there or not. Perhaps to the point where they no longer care whether FIFA are there or not \u2013 indeed that may already be the case, and that isn\u2019t necessarily a good thing for football.<\/p>\n
FIFA\u2019s relevance and connection to the real world of football has become little more than a marketing epithet for a game that is already global and has been for a long time.<\/p>\n
In that respect the Saudis need to be careful what they wish for as they blindly throw money unaccountably at an already obscenely wealthy world governing body and its out of control leadership. The Saudis want to be seen as world leaders but that comes with responsibility as well.<\/p>\n
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1749183244<\/span>labto1749183244<\/span>ofdlr1749183244<\/span>owedi1749183244<\/span>sni@n1749183244<\/span>osloh1749183244<\/span>cin.l1749183244<\/span>uap1749183244<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
June 6\u00a0\u2013 Saudi Arabian money is underpinning FIFA\u2019s expanded Club World Cup. With DAZN spending close to $1 billion on Club World Cup broadcast rights shortly after a $1 billion investment in the company by Saudi\u2019s Public Investment Fund (PIF), PIF has now splashed its cash again, this time becoming the main sponsor of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":276379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104021,104019,104020,93,104022,104023,104024],"tags":[3408,104026,14729,6335,104025,4336,31794,18065,53907],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-276378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-club-world-cup","category-club-world-cup-2025","category-fifa","category-finance","category-pif","category-saudi-arabia","category-sponsorship","tag-buy","tag-cwc","tag-deeper","tag-heaven","tag-hellish","tag-marriage","tag-monetary","tag-outcome","tag-pif"],"yoast_head":"\n
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