The president of the Saudi Federation: "We would love to have Messi in Arabia"
The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo and the recent multi-million dollar offers for other great stars such as Karim Benzema have turned Saudi Arabia into a great threat to the traditional major soccer leagues in record time.
Yasser Al-Misehal is the president of the country's Football Federation and assures in an interview with EL MUNDO that we are only at the beginning of a firm commitment to turn his competition into a world reference.
In this sense, he does not hide that his great wish would be to incorporate the Argentine Leo Messi into the competition, who played his last game with PSG yesterday and is negotiating his new destination with the Saudi possibility on the table.
“We are working to increase football fans throughout the Kingdom and welcome new fans, to increase interest and develop national football at all levels,” he explains.. “More than 2.6 million people under the age of 30 play football and 80% of the population plays, watches and attends the matches”. “We want the Saudi Pro League (SPO) to become more exciting and competitive, interest to grow, and the league to be more attractive for our fans and those of the rest of the world”. For this reason, he adds, the signing of great world stars has become one of his main objectives.
THE CHRISTIAN IMPACT
“The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr has brought immense value to the SPL and to Saudi football.. His presentation filled the stadiums and when he arrived 28,000 fans turned out for the club's next home game, despite his absence.
“His figure has inspired millions of boys and girls in the country, which may give rise to a new generation of soccer talents in the future”. “His arrival has supported our strategy to arouse interest and increase participation, thanks to his profile and his status as an icon.”
In this sense, he minimizes the importance of the obscene gestures he recently carried out and which caused enormous controversy in the country after being defeated 2-0 by Al-Hilal. “Al Nassr has already addressed this matter and no further comment is necessary,” he says.
“Ronaldo is a role model, with a solid record of professionalism, and he is very aware of his obligations on and off the pitch, like all SPL players.. Ronaldo's move to Saudi Arabia has had a positive impact on football in the Kingdom. We have seen the number and diversity of emerging local talent, fans and supporters of the SPL grow, “says the leader.
Cristiano Ronaldo, during his presentation with Al-Nassr.
Along the same lines, he does not hide his desire to have his historic competitor in one of the clubs in the competition. “Messi is a wonderful player and a football legend.. Any league would welcome his arrival and, as a football fan, I would of course be delighted that he would one day play in Saudi Arabia.”
“Once the decisions have been made, the competent authorities will make the official announcements in due time,” he maintains while transferring the responsibility for future signings to the different clubs.
200,000 LICENSES
“By 2025 our goal is to increase the number of registered male players from 21,000 to more than 200,000. Also that the investment for the development of the quarry goes from 28 to 50 million”, continues Al-Misehal.
At the same time, he highlights that, together with the incorporation of great players in the twilight of their careers, the great challenge is to do the same with top-level footballers who are in their sporting prime.
“Seeing great young stars play in our leagues is one of our main aspirations and we believe that it can be realized through our strategy to improve football”. “As our leagues become more competitive and attractive, the time will come when the world's young talents take notice of us,” ventures the Saudi soccer boss.
In the last two years we have built 700 new grassroots soccer fields
“Right now, our goal is to provide the right infrastructure and development platforms for domestic talents to become the best young stars in the world and play in Saudi Arabia,” he adds.
“Only in the last two years we have built 700 new grassroots soccer fields, funding for youth soccer has increased by 162% and the number of registered coaches and players has done so by 298% and 58%, respectively,” he adds, highlighting the growth of soccer in the Persian Gulf.
SPAIN SUPERCUP
In another order of things, he is satisfied with the experience of hosting the Spanish Super Cup in his country despite the scandal unleashed by the commissions paid to former Barça footballer Gerard Piqué.
“Hosting events such as the Spanish Super Cup has helped Saudi Arabia establish itself as a vibrant sports center on the regional and international stages.. In the 2020 Super Cup, 158,000 fans attended three matches in Jeddah. We took advantage of this success to celebrate the next two editions in Riyadh, the last of which attracted more than 146,000 fans in three matches. These figures demonstrate our passion for football. We hope to organize more Spanish Super Cups.”
Pique? Our direct relationship is with the Spanish Federation
Regarding the efforts that Piqué made to take the competition to Saudi Arabia, Al-Misehal does not want to make any comments.. «Our direct relationship is with the Spanish Football Federation. Any other query in this regard is better to direct it to them, “he says.
“Football is the number one passion in Saudi Arabia. As I have already said, more than 80% of our country plays, watches and attends the matches. Interest is growing as we continue to invest at all levels, from grassroots to professional. The Qatar World Cup demonstrated that interest and our team’s victory over Argentina was one of the highlights of the tournament.”