Winds of change blowing through Saudi football as elite clubs ponder privatization

RIYADH: A revolution is taking place in Saudi football, on and off the pitch. As some of the world’s best players increasingly look to the possibility of playing in the Roshn Saudi League, the prospect of privatization — and the benefits it could bring — is in the air at the Kingdom’s elite clubs.

On Sunday, it was reported that Karim Benzema, who received the Ballon d’Or last October, had agreed to sign for Al-Ittihad, just days after the Jeddah giants celebrated clinching a first league title since 2009.

The French striker follows in the footsteps of his former Real Madrid teammate, Cristiano Ronaldo, who signed for Al-Nassr in December. And the Portuguese star believes the future is bright for the Saudi top flight.

“The league is very good,” Ronaldo said shortly after the season concluded. “But I think we have many, many opportunities to still grow. The league is competitive … but they need to improve a little bit more the infrastructure.

“And in my opinion, if they continue to do the work that they want to do here for the next five years, I think the Saudi League can be a top-five league in the world.”

As his comments suggest, such improvement depends on more than simply importing world-class talent — though that certainly helps, and match attendances have increased by 150 percent in the past year alone.

Just as important, however — perhaps even more so — is the ways in which the domestic game is organized and so it was striking on Sunday when plans were announced to help a number of clubs privatize this year.

“The privatization and ownership transfer of clubs aims to accelerate progress in a variety of sports across the Kingdom, further growing participation, providing cutting-edge facilities, increasing