Live broadcast on August 3, Saudi Arabia’s crazy quotation this summer attracted world soccer field of widespread attention. Saudi league executive Peter Hutton said in an interview with BBC a few days ago that Saudi Arabia’s “amazing” spending would not stop.
Hutton said on BBC’s program: “I think Saudi Arabia’s funds are always ready. As you can see, I don’t think this investment trend will slow down. I have worked in sports for 40 years. I have never seen such a large, ambitious and eager project. Saudi investment has made the world’s sports circles talk about it, but this is only a quarter or a fifth of the Premier League’s spending this summer.”
According to German data, the Saudi League currently spends 0.434 billion this summer, while the Premier League spends 1.4 billion euros this summer.
When talking about the threat to the rise of the Saudi league, Hutton said: “The investment from Saudi Arabia is remarkable, which is certainly a substantial acceleration of development. However, this does not necessarily mean that European football will no longer be strong in the next world soccer field. I think the rise of Saudi league is not a bad thing. It is a good thing that football has developed all over the world.”
Regarding the accusation of “sports cleansing” in Saudi Arabia, Hutton said: “The reason why I came to Saudi Arabia to work is that I saw something happening there. My wife works in the women’s football department of FIFA, she knows what has happened in Saudi Arabia. You can see that kind of change, how much happiness they bring to the local community, and the role of Saudi women in society has changed significantly and rapidly, especially under the historical background of Saudi Arabia.”
“Now there are 50000 female students playing football, 1,000 female coaches, only 750 registered coaches in 2018, and now there are more than 5500. You can regard this as proof of change and the development of women’s football as a part of social change. For me, this is what their projects attract me.”
“This is not only about top stars, high transfer fees and wages, but also related to the infrastructure of Saudi football, whether it is women’s football or youth football, what we want to create here is a pyramid that can really change the football movement of this country.”
The operation of the Saudi league now also makes people compare with the former Super League. Hutton said: “The Saudi league has a 50-year historical tradition and has a mature and fixed fan group, this is a real league. What we are doing is trying to upgrade instead of starting a new stage.”
“The advantage of planning to sign mbape and introduce players such as Ruben-Neves is that it shows that we not only focus on old players, but more importantly, we know what can increase value and charm, what can make our league stars shine. Like Chelsea or Manchester City fans, they will also feel excited when new investments and stars come. We are no different.”
When talking about the return of investment, Hutton said, “I can predict that the income in 9 or 10 years will be very objective. It is very important to see that the income increases year by year. The ticket income is increasing, the TV income is also increasing, and the sponsorship is also increasing. I can’t see the trend of slowing growth.”
“When C Luo signed the contract to win in Riyadh, We aroused the interest of international broadcasting companies. Last year, as soon as C Luo signed a contract with Saudi Arabia, our competition was broadcast in more than 170 countries and regions, which was a very positive signal, I believe we will also win a British broadcasting contract in the new season.”
(zoli)
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