Inside Ittihad: How club CEO oversaw an on-pitch revolution at Jeddah giants

Australia: When Domingos Soares Oliveira first walked through the doors at Al-Ittihad, on Oct. 1, 2023, the challenge in front of him was immense.

By that stage, the league had already attracted some of the world’s best talent as it began its rapid transformation. But the off-field operation had yet to catch up to the on-field capabilities. In some ways, the cart had been put before the horse.

The players had been signed without the requisite level of infrastructure, both physical and organisational, that they were accustomed to back in Europe. Quite hastily a new training headquarters was built at their training ground to bring the club up to the minimum standard required for an elite club in 2024.

Oliveira’s job as new CEO, therefore, was not only to transform the entire off-field operation, but to do so at a pace that allowed them to catch up with the ambition being shown on the pitch.

Everything was urgent. Everything was a priority. At the same time, he had to learn and adapt to his new surroundings and a new football culture, having spent his entire career in the more familiar surrounds of European football, spending close to 20 years with Portuguese giants Benfica before accepting the job with Al-Ittihad.

While the differences between the structures were vast, the passion for the game remained the same.

“There’re a lot of things that are different between clubs in Saudi and in our case, with Al-Ittihad, compared to Europe,” the 64-year-old told Arab News.

“But there’s something that is very similar, which is the passion from the fans. I’ve been in different parts of the globe, you have countries who are somehow trying to engage with the population around football, but there’s not a culture around football.