PIF to take control of Saudi Arabia’s four biggest clubs as part of major shake-up in Pro League

The Saudi Arabia ministry of sport has announced the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will take control of four teams in the Saudi Pro League.

The clubs chosen are the SPL’s four founding members: Al Ahli, Al Ittihad, Al Hilal and Al Nassr.

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al Nassr in January, while Al Hilal are hoping to tempt Lionel Messi to Saudi Arabia with a €400-milllion-per-year contract and Karim Benzema also has an offer from an SPL team. Sergio Busquets is another with a proposal to play in the gulf state.

PIF — which owns an 80 per cent stake in Premier League side Newcastle United — will control 75 per cent of the four SPL teams, with the other 25 per cent controlled by a non-profit organisation.

The board of those clubs, according to the ministry of sport, will be made up of seven members, five of which will be appointed by PIF and the other two by the non-profit organisation.

The ministry says the non-profit organisations will each be “an institution that includes the current members of the club’s general assembly and new members of the institution, and two members are nominated by them in the membership of the club company’s board of directors, provided that one of them is the chairman of the board of directors”.

The Saudi Arabia government announced the plans on Monday as part of the country’s ‘Vision 2030’ project, which also involves attempting to host the 2030 men’s World Cup.

Messi also has a large multi-million-pound deal with Saudi Arabia to promote tourism in the country.

GO DEEPER

Explained: What the overhaul of Saudi football means for the transfer market and beyond

The government says the plans are designed to “foster investment opportunities and an attractive investment environment in the sports sector; promote professionalism, governance, and financial sustainability in sports clubs; and enhance clubs’ competitiveness and infrastructure”.

Four other Pro League clubs will also have their ownership structure changed with investment from other companies. Aramco will take a stake in Al Qadsia, Diriyah Gate Development Authority in Al Diriyah Club, Royal Commission for Al-Ula Governorate in Al Ula Club and Neom in Al Suqoor FC. Neom is the company in charge of delivering the planned ‘smart city’ under construction in the north west of Saudi Arabia.

The government also claims the project aims to “raise the league’s commercial revenues from 450 million riyals (£96.5m; $120m) in 2022 to over 1.8 billion riyals (£386m; $480m) annually while generating private-sector investment opportunities and increasing the market value of the Roshn Saudi League from three billion to more than eight billion riyals by 2030”.

Al Ittihad, managed by former Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, are the reigning SPL champions, having won this season’s title by finishing five points ahead of Ronaldo’s Al Nassr. Al Hilal, meanwhile, finished third.

Al Ahli have historically been one of Saudi Arabia’s most successful clubs but was relegated from the SPL in the 2021-22 season. They will be back in the SPL next season, though, after winning promotion back to the top flight this year.

Al Hilal and Al Nassr are based in Riyadh, the capital and biggest city in Saudi Arabia, while Al Ahli and Al Ittihad are based in Jeddah.

GO DEEPER

Is Saudi Arabia football's new dumping ground - or a new frontier?

(Photo: Getty Images)