The current administration under Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is focusing a lot on modernizing the Saudi society and one of his goals is to make Saudi Arabia a global sporting hub. As far as football is concerned, Saudi Pro League is now regarded as one of the strongest club competitions in the world. But that is not getting translated into the performance of the national team. It will happen eventually. By the time Saudi Arabia host the tournament in 2034, they will be one of the strongest teams from the AFC.
Modernizing Saudi society and making Saudi Arabia a global sporting hub are two different things and I hope you know that. The goal is to get people to think that both things are one and the same. Because they sign Ronaldo and other players that have been former European players makes people think that they are aiming at becoming more modern, but the truth is that most things remain the same while these players can enjoy a lot of privileges. Or do you think the average woman in Saudi Arabia would be allowed to live the same life as Ronaldo's wife? Lol of course not, I don't even want to know what they would do with most of them. The deal is that Ronaldo improves their image and in exchange for that they make him richer and richer.