Saudi Pro League chief quizzed on PIF's Newcastle United commitment - drops intriguing future hint

FIFA awarded Saudi Arabia the 25th edition of the tournament at the back end of last year. The Gulf state were unopposed in their bid, which received support from the English, Welsh and Scottish Football Associations.

PIF, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, have made sport a staple of their Vision 2030 agenda, a strategy to diversify the country’s economy away from oil. Critics have labelled the policy as “sportswashing” - and nothing but a ploy to disguise human rights controversies.

Newcastle United were a breakout figure for Saudi Arabia in football, with PIF’s acquisition coming before high-scale Pro League investment. Buying the Magpies gave the nation a foothold in the Premier League - the world’s most watched football enterprise.

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Endeavors in golf, boxing, MMA, WWE, snooker, and F1 aside, the Pro League have forked out over £1billion on high-profile stars like Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo. Mugharbel, the league’s CEO, has claimed PIF plan to continue splashing the cash until the 2034 World Cup, which will be the country’s showpiece event.

He was directly asked about whether PIF will decrease investment in other projects like Newcastle. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the club’s chairman and fund’s governor, outlined plans last year to reduce foreign investment in PIF’s portfolio from 30 per cent to 18 per cent.

“That (Newcastle) is another department, it is not the league's responsibility, but what I can say is that there is no shortage of investment in the league and it will continue to be that way until the 2034 World Cup,” Mugharbel told El Mundo. “It is about building an industry and accelerating its growth within our country.

“The goal is to keep improving and take advantage of our opportunities. We have the World Cup and great things are going to happen in the next 10 years and we will not be where we are today, obviously. 

“We are going to improve the facilities, the visibility and the attractiveness of Saudi football. We are going to be better. The stronger the league is, the more talent there will be in the national team.”