Amid the historic transformations taking place in Saudi sports, Prince Turki bin Khalid, the former president of the Arab and Saudi Football Federations, issued strong warnings to those responsible for the sports investment file, stressing the need not to rush into transferring ownership of clubs to commercial entities or individuals before the necessary legal and regulatory structure is completed.
Lessons learned from the 1990s
Prince Turki bin Khalid, via his official account on the "X" platform, recalled the history of Saudi football, specifically the early days of professionalism in the 1990s. He explained that while that era was significant, it suffered from the lack of a clear legal framework, leading to administrative and financial challenges that persisted for years. The Prince stated, "I hope we don't repeat the mistakes of the early days of professionalism in the 1990s... and that we don't make the same mistake again when transferring ownership of clubs to entities or individuals.".
This signal comes at a sensitive time, as the Kingdom seeks to avoid any loopholes that may hinder the privatization process, drawing on lessons from the past to ensure a sound start to the current privatization project.
Governance and Financial Fair Play: The Cornerstone
The former president of the Arab Football Federation emphasized that the biggest challenge at this stage lies not only in making the decision to privatize, but also in establishing strict governance and precise legislation that protects the interests of all stakeholders. He particularly stressed the importance of rigorously implementing Financial Fair Play regulations to ensure fair competition and prevent the financial collapse of clubs.
He pointed out that the existence of laws alone is not enough, but the lesson is in firm application, warning that the absence of these laws or leniency in their application will lead to adverse results, not only at the sports level, but may open doors to exploiting sports for purposes far removed from its noble goals.
The importance of the project in the context of Vision 2030
Prince Turki bin Khalid's remarks come at the same time as the major movement led by the investment and privatization project for sports clubs, which was launched by the Saudi Crown Prince as part of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 objectives. This project aims to move the Saudi League to the list of the top 10 leagues in the world, and raise the market value of the league, which makes Prince Turki's legal warnings of utmost importance to ensure the sustainability of this giant national project.
Prince Turki concluded his tweets by affirming his full support for this move, which he described as "great and tremendous," stressing that the ultimate goal is the interest of Saudi sports and youth, which requires a solid legal foundation that guarantees the success and continuity of the experiment.
