here’s how much she’s willing to spend – Corriere.it

One billion euros until 2030. The colossal sum guaranteed to Cristiano Ronaldo to first make him a player for Al Nassr, a Saudi Arabian team, and then ambassador of the Kingdom for the 2030 soccer world cup, seems to mean only one thing: the Saudi government very confident of obtaining the assignment of the top football competition in the world. The official decision will only be made in 2024 and Riad has been playing its cards for some time to win the competition.

To overcome the veto that now imposes not to award the competition to the same continent before the next two editions, the Saudis have set up an intercontinental bid (the first in history) which also includes Egypt and Greece. An African and a European federation are therefore added to an Asian federation. This candidacy is currently the most accredited compared to the other two existing ones, namely that of the trio Portugal, Spain and Ukraine and the coalition of the four South American nations Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile. From 2026 the final phase of the World Cup will be played with 48 teams and even just the investments for the necessary sports facilities are assumed to be in strong growth compared to the 32-team edition recently completed in Qatar. This is why states need to federate in order to be able to bear the costs.

Riad has long been playing its cards. In May Leo Messi, fresh world champion with Argentina and for years rival of Cristiano Ronaldo, had signed a contract with Saudi Arabia to promote the Kingdom in terms of tourism, something that had caused discussion when in the opening match of the The Saudis had beaten Albiceleste 2-1 in the World Cup (and that puts the champion in an embarrassment situation when he finds himself facing the candidacy of his native Argentina). With the acquisition of CR7, Riad now has an unsurpassed team of testimonials.

On the more strictly economic front then PIF, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia which manages assets worth close to 560 billion euros and controls Premier League club Newcastle, invested in football in 2022 alone, as reported by the Financial Times, approximately 2 billion and 150 million euros. Without forgetting the offer of 138 million euros for 6 years (until 2029) to have the United the Italian Super Cup in a new 4-team format (the first two of the championship against the finalists of the previous Italian Cup) to have more games to show on TV. As is already the case for the Spanish Liga which played its first 4-man Super Cup match in 2020.

But the current prime minister and heir to the throne Mohammed bin Salman has even more ambitious plans. In his vision expressed in the project Vision 2030 wants to prepare the Kingdom to get out of the economic dependence on oil and start it on a path of faster modernization, to prepare it for when oil will see its value as a global energy source decrease in the coming decades. To do this, 80 projects have been launched to be implemented by 2030 which concern renewable energy and the environment, the water sector, biotechnology, the food chain, technological and digital sciences, advanced production, tourism, the mining sector, defence, materials, design, logistics, engineering, construction, infrastructure and transport, as well as media-entertainment and sports. The most important, the creation of Neom, the smart city of the future, calls for investments of 450 billion euros.

To obtain the 2030 World Cup, Saudi Arabia would be ready to invest massively, we are talking about hundreds of billions, in infrastructure and stadiums. In any case, a figure higher than the approximately 200-220 billion spent by the much smaller Qatar. Sport in general and football in particular was chosen by the Saudi government as a demonstration of soft power. And for this reason, from golf to boxing to F1, there are more and more high-level sporting events taking place in the Kingdom in recent years.

But there are serious obstacles to overcome before being able to put the 2030 World Cup in your pocket. Above all of a political and social nature. The lack of respect for human rights (the killing of journalist Khashoggi is the most striking example), the democratic shortcomings, the backwardness of the condition of women and the rigid social rules have made an important human rights organization say such as Human Rights Watch that the World Cup would be yet another example for Saudi Arabia sportswashing that is, an effort to distract from its grave human rights violations by appropriating events that celebrate humanity’s achievements.

Then there is the strictly sporty aspect. A World Cup in Saudi Arabia would mean another World Cup, after the one in Qatar, to be played in the winter, which many European clubs and UEFA itself would not like. And for this the choice to also include Greece among the organizing countries it seems like a clever move to try to achieve as broad a consensus as possible. The World Cup, like the Olympics, has always been seen not only as a sporting event but above all as a sign of the rebirth or rise of a nation. Precisely for this Riad dreams of organizing both within 20 years. Will Saudi Arabia succeed in its intent?