It’s not just oil that flows in the Persian Gulf region. dollars too. And these mostly flow into sports facilities.
Earlier this month, a very strong rumor that the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) would take over WWE went untrue. We were talking about a transaction worth around $6.5 billion at the time.
But it remains very active. The PIF pumped $51 billion into the esports world in 2021, according to a Journal poll last fall. And according to Pitchbook, a financial database, the fund held minority stakes in sports franchises in America worth $3 billion in 2021.
The PIF also founded the LIV Golf Tour and pumped over $1 billion into it to compete with the PGA.
But the Saudi crown-led fund isn’t the only big player in the Gulf. There are some companies that have deep pockets and a desire to invest.
In England
Saudis love English football. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bought 80% of Newcastle United’s shares in October 2021.
It spent around £300m (CA$494.3m) on the purchase and has since invested more than £200m (CA$329.5m) improving its roster, with the result that the team is among the Top 5 of the Premier League is.
Another Saudi prince, Abdullah bin Mosaad, is also making big deals through United World Group.
He owns Sheffield United in England, La Berrichonne de Châteauroux in France, Beerschot in Belgium, Kerala United in India and Alhilal in the United Arab Emirates.
That starts to make a lot of athletic qualities for a man.
Royal property
Moving east of Saudi Arabia we find Qatar where the last World Cup was held.
From there, the Emir of Qatar reigns over a small sports empire whose crown jewel is Paris Saint-Germain, which he has owned since 2011. Through Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), he initially acquired 70% of the club before purchasing the remaining 30% in 2013.
The first transaction was then valued at EUR 70 million (CAD 101.8 million). QSI would have awarded EUR 30 million (CA$43.6 million) for the remaining 30%.
Since then the club has thrived and has a trio of stars in Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar that has pushed its valuation to more than €3.2 billion (CA$4.7 billion). If rumors surface that 10-15% of the shares will be sold, it will be a nice return on investment for QSI.
And the Qatari group have no intention of stopping there as they have their eyes on an English big name, with Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur names returning most often.
A monster
The United Arab Emirates are more discreet towards their neighbors. But the region’s biggest monster, the City Football Group, is still based in Abu Dhabi.
It is a huge company, 81% owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group, a creation of Sheik Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Minister of Presidential Affairs.
Under his leadership, City Football Group took shape with the purchase of Manchester City in 2008 for £210m (CAD$346.1m).
He has since extended his tentacles with New York City FC in MLS and branches in Australia (Melbourne City), Spain (Girona), South America (Montevideo City), India (Mumbai City), France (Troyes) and in China (Jiuniu) in particular.
In total, the City Football Group owns 11 clubs around the world, making it one of the largest sports groups in the world.
Other sports
There has been a lot of talk about football and a little bit about golf, but the influence of the Gulf States in the sporting world goes beyond that.
Formula 1, for example, is clearly in the Saudis’ sights, as state oil company Aramco has a ten-year global sponsorship deal estimated to be worth US$450 million (CA$601.4 million). Aramco is also the main sponsor of the Aston Martin team, which is co-owned by Quebecer Lawrence Stroll.
There are no fewer than four Grands Prix in the region, in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
It will also be necessary to keep an eye on tennis, which could be the Saudi Investment Fund’s (PIF) next target.
Sports real estate in the Persian Gulf
Here is a list of sports clubs owned by an emirate in the Persian Gulf.
UNITED WORLD GROUP
Prince Abdullah bin Mosad
Photo archive, AFP
Saudi Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad owns several teams including Châteauroux in France where he made his first visit to Stade Gaston-Petit on October 8, 2021.
- Sheffield United in England for £10 million (CAD 16.5 million) in 2013
- The Berrichonne of Chateauroux in France for around 2.8 million euros or C$4.07 million (80% stake in 2021)
- Beerschot in Belgium (2018)
- Kerala United in India (2020)
- Alhilal in the United Arab Emirates (2020)
PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUNDS
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
- Newcastle United (80% stake) £300m (CA$494.3m) in 2021
- LIV golf Founded in 2021 with more than $1.1 billion CAD
TURKI AL SHEIKH
- Almeria (Spain) 20 million euros (CA$29.1 million) in 2019
SPORT INVESTMENTS IN QATAR
- Paris Saint Germain (2011)
Purchased 70% stake in 2011 for EUR 50 million (CA$72.7 million)
Purchase of remaining 30% in 2013 for €30m (CA$43.6m)
ASPIRE FOUNDATION
- KAS Eupen Belgium (2021)
Less than 5 million euros (7.3 M$ CA)
CITY SOCCER GROUP
81% owned by Sheik Mansour bin Zayed’s Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG).
- Manchester City (England) Acquired in 2008 for £210 million (CA$346.1 million).
- New York City F.C. (USA) 2013 Expansion Team 80% owned, 20% Yankee Global Enterprises
- Melbourne City (Australia) Acquired in 2014
- Yokohama. F.Marinos (Japan) Minority stake since 2014
- Torque of the city of Montevideo (Uruguay) 2017
- Girona (Spain) Acquisition of 44.3% of the shares in 2017
- Sichuan-Juniu (China) Joint acquisition with UBTECH and China Sports Capital in 2019
- City of Mumbai (India) Acquisition of 65% of the shares in 2019
- Lommel (Belgium) 2020 majority shareholder
- ES Troyes AC (France) 2020 majority shareholder
- Palermo FC (Italy) Acquisition of 80% of the shares in 2022
From Belgium to Qatar
If you’ve never heard of Eupen, don’t worry, that’s completely normal. It’s a small town of 19,000 in Belgium that’s more German-speaking than Flemish.
Here we find KAS Eupen, a modest second division club that made their first taste in the Jupiler Pro League in 2010.
But only in 2012 does his story become interesting.
It was then acquired by a Qatari government arm, the Aspire Zone Foundation, for a modest sum of less than five million euros ($7.3 million).
For the small emirate, which would have preferred Germany, the purchase made perfect sense, but local sports team ownership laws were too restrictive.
education
And why did Qatar want to own a small Belgian team? After all, the emirate had just offered Paris Saint-Germain in 2011 when the 2022 World Cup was awarded the previous year.
For a better understanding, you should know that the Aspire Zone Foundation is a sports organization whose mission is to educate young athletes. And in this case footballers.
In recent years, Aspire has conducted scouting missions in 17 developing countries, scrutinizing more than 3.5 million young gamers.
We then awarded 18 to 20 scholarships a year and the lucky ones went to Doha where they received an education in a private institution alongside their football development.
The Missing Link
KAS Eupen was therefore the missing link in the Aspire programme, which was looking for a place where these young people could play at a professional level.
With the country automatically qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, players had to be coached and professional teams found for them, especially since the Qatar Stars League, the first tier of Qatari football, was only established in 2019.
So there are around fifteen players who have traveled between Qatar and Eupen over the past ten years and six of them wore the country’s shirt at the last World Cup.
They are Assim Madibo, Abdelkarim Hassan, Yousef Hassan, Salem Al-Hajri, Akram Afif and Homan Ahmed.
The small club from a Belgian border town played a major role at the last World Cup.
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