2023-06-24 13:42:55
The former Saudi Al-Hilal star, Yasser Al-Qahtani, responded to statements criticizing Saudi Arabia’s policy of bringing brilliant football names from European leagues, to revitalize the Saudi league, describing them as “naive”.
During his tweet, Al-Qahtani said that he would not have responded to those he described as “clowns” had it not been for his country.
He wrote, “I wish I hadn’t spoken regarding the subject, but sometimes there are those who force you to respond to it.. The first reason is that the subject concerns my country, and the second, is that the speakers are naive.”
Immediately following the word “naive”, Al-Qahtani referred to the Twitter accounts of former English players Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, who are staunch opponents of Saudi policy in this regard.
This duo criticized, along with the President of the European Football Association (UEFA), Alexander Shifrin, Saudi Arabia’s targeting of football stars in Europe and making them join Saudi clubs, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and others who are still on the Saudi radar.
List of football stars on the Saudi radar
Saudi Arabia has been pursuing an unprecedented policy of attracting sportsmen for some time. Since Prince Mohammed bin Salman assumed the mandate of the Covenant, the Kingdom has sought to become a sports destination for the most prominent names in football, and it has succeeded in bringing in brilliant names led by Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Al-Qahtani wrote in the context of his response, “How did you, clowns, allow yourselves to talk regarding a country looking for development for its local sport without harming anyone, and without violating any regulations?”
And he continued, “What regarding the deals of the Americans and Europeans, in your league (the English Premier League) and in Europe as a whole?”
And he went on, speaking in a sharp tone, “I know very well that people like you do not keep their mouths silent except for a handful of money. You are accustomed to making this matter your source of livelihood, and this is what made you outcast among football fans.”
Then he continued his response to Shiffrin by saying, “Mr. Alexander Shifrin, before you spoke regarding the great Saudi sports development project, I was hoping that you would try to develop football in your country and not concern yourself with a country whose team qualified for the World Cup 6 times more than your country’s team.”
Shivrin is from Slovenia, whose national team qualified twice for the first World Cup in 2002 and the second in 2010, but did not skip the group stage.
Al-Qahtani ended his tweet by saying, “In the end, a group of clowns will not be able to stop the wheel of Saudi sports development.. He continued, “I invite you to enjoy the journey and leave the driving to us.”
It is noteworthy that the President of the European Football Association, Alexander Schefrin, said in recent statements that the sports leadership in the Kingdom is making mistakes by investing in buying stars at the end of their football career.
Scheffrin was asked by a Dutch broadcaster if he was afraid of prominent players leaving Europe, and he replied emphatically, “No.”
“I think this is a mistake mainly committed by Saudi football,” the UEFA president said in that interview.
He added, “Why is this a problem for them? Because they should invest in the academies, they should bring in foreign coaches, and they should develop their players.”
“He should feel afraid.” Analysts respond to Schiffrin’s talk regarding the “Saudi mistake.”
Saudi analysts and media outlets have expressed their rejection of the recent statements made by the President of the European Football Association, Alexander Schefrin, in which he claimed that the sports leadership in the Kingdom is making mistakes by investing in buying stars at the end of their football career, as he put it.
For his part, Gary Neville said, commenting on the matter, when asked by the British channel “BBC Sport”, which angered Al-Qahtani and many analysts and former Saudi players, “The English Premier League must impose a ban on transfers to Saudi Arabia to ensure that the integrity of the game is not harmed.”
Neville questioned the safety and legality of Saudi financial transactions, as a result of which many football stars are transferred to the Saudi League.
The former Liverpool star, Jamie Carragher, also criticized the Saudi quest to bring in European football stars, and said in a tweet, in particular, that “this sports washing must be stopped!”
Carragher’s tweet was related to news of an imminent deal between Manchester City’s Portuguese player, Bernardo Silva, for a Saudi club.
He wrote, criticizing, “Saudi Arabia has taken over the game of golf, great boxing duels, and now they want to control football.”
These comments came in response to the transfer of Ronaldo and Benzema to Al-Nasr Club and Al-Ittihad – respectively – in exchange for deals estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.
It is expected that more players will follow suit following transferring a percentage of the ownership of 4 major Saudi clubs this month to the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
And the Saudi Investment Fund is the body that sponsors the process of bringing players to join clubs that are active in the Saudi League.
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