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Saudi Arabia will support special offers for Manchester United or Liverpool, the Saudi sports minister said, adding that the conservative kingdom is keen to host the tournament. Globalism Glass.
Even Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal said that the Gulf country could be a new home for superstar Cristiano Ronaldo without a club.
Prince Abdulaziz said that oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which has been on a buying spree of sporting assets, would “certainly support” bids for the English Premier League giants, whose owners are wooing investors.
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“Privately, I can’t speak for them,” he told the BBC, “but there is a lot of interest and appetite and there is a lot of passion for football.”
Prince Abdulaziz added, “We will certainly support it in the event that any private sector enters, because we know that this will reflect positively on sports within the Kingdom.”
“But if there is an investor willing to do it and the numbers are growing, why not?”
Harshly criticized by activists for its human rights record, Saudi Arabia last year slammed England’s perennial record holder Newcastle, who now sit third in the Premier League.
Manchester United’s American owners stunned fans this week by revealing they would consider selling the club – just hours after announcing the departure of Ronaldo, 37.
Liverpool’s owners, who are also Americans, said they were open to new shareholders but stopped short of confirming reports that the club was up for sale.
After Ronaldo told British television that he had turned down a huge offer to join a Saudi club, Prince Abdulaziz said: “Everything is possible, I would like to see Ronaldo play in the Saudi League.
“It will benefit the league and the sports ecosystem in Saudi Arabia and will inspire young people for the future. It is a role model for many children and has a large fan base in Saudi Arabia.”
Lionel Messi, Ronaldo’s biggest rival on the world stage, is already the recipient of Saudi money as an ambassador for tourism for the country, which is courting foreign visitors and businesses.
Prince Abdulaziz also said that Saudi Arabia’s chances of applying to host the World Cup will increase if it wins the rights to host the 2026 and 2027 Asian Cups for women and men.
An Egyptian official said in September that Saudi Arabia was in talks with Egypt and Greece about trying to cross the continent to host the 2030 World Cup.
“Any country in the world would love to host a World Cup,” said the prince.
He added, “We need to upgrade some of our sites. We have a lot of stadiums that meet the requirements we need, but hosting such an event is not only about stadiums, it is about infrastructure, people, preparing everyone for such an event.”
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