Im the only one who see this Saudi boom in football like the Chinese boom we see several years ago?..
It is already paying off for the Saudia Arabians, they have been announced as the the next country to host the FIFA club world cup that will be the last of it's kind. It will be the last club world cup where only seven teams play. This is Saudia Arabia's first opportunity to host this competition and they will do a good job I am sure off to ensure that they proof to FIFA that they can host bigger competitions in football, the world cup someday.
The seven teams that will be playing are;
Al-Ahly (2022/23 CAF Champions League winners); Al-Ittihad (AFC, host): Auckland City (2023 OFC Champions League winners): Club Léon (2023 CONCACAF Champions League winners): Manchester City (2022/23 UEFA Champions League winners): Urawa Red Diamonds (2022 AFC Champions League winners): TBD (2023 CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores winners)
Benzema, Kante who are now players in Al-Ittihad will have a chance to play in these competitions.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230627-saudi-arabia-to-host-2023-fifa-club-world-cup/They are taking step after step now and use their money to host and promote soccer within their country and also outside the country. As far as I know Greece withdrew their candidacy for 2030 to host the World Cup, but I was still surprised
, in which crown price MBS makes massive promises to Greece in terms of modernizing and building infrastructure for them no matter the cost. It seems that MBS wanted a country from the European Union to be part of their joint bid in order to put more pressure on the relevant committees.