UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Will a club from Saudi Arabia play in the UEFA Champions League?
Newcastle United minority owner Amanda Staveley believes it’s a matter of time until Al Nassr or Al Hilal face Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Saudi Arabia have been making quite the splash in the world of soccer in recent times, with Cristiano Ronaldo the first global superstar to move to the Gulf state, followed by Karim Benzema and Neymar. A move for Kylian Mbappé, who looks certain to end at up Real Madrid, didn’t work out but showed the ambition of the Saudi powers that be. Could it lead to one - or more - of their teams participating in the UEFA Champions League, the most biggest and most lucrative club competition on the planet?
Staveley: a Saudi club in the UCL “won’t take too long”
The answer is yes, according to Amanda Staveley, who owns a 10% minority share in Newcastle United, the latest high-profile club to be taken over by the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Speaking at the Bloomberg Power Players Summit in Jeddah on Thursday, Staveley believes it’s only a matter of time before a Saudi club plays in the top European tournament: “I’m quite sure there will be a Saudi club in the Champions League. I don’t know how long but, knowing Saudi, I don’t think it’ll take too long.”
Given her long-standing connections with Middle Eastern investors and her involvement with 2023-24 group stage participants Newcastle, the club she helped the Saudi consortium take over and is now a director of, we can only assume she does have a certain amount of inside information, even if she didn’t expand on her comments.
Could the Champions League final be played in the United States?
Up until now, UEFA have so far resisted the temptation to do anything too radical with the Champions League, in relative terms at least. In recent years, there have been reports that the final could be taken to United States for the first time, although at least the next two will be held at Wembley Stadium in London and at Allianz Arena in Munich.
PSG president Al-Khelaïfi rejects non-European involvement
Qatari businessman Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, who doubles up as the president of French club Paris Saint-Germain and the chairman of the European Club Association (ECA), has previously insisted no clubs from outside Europe will be permitted to play in the Champions League.
But whether we like it or not, money talks in soccer. After the end of the current tournament, the Champions League will switch to a new format, which will see more teams play more matches more often, much to the annoyance of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
That will, of course, generate more revenue, a never-ending quest for soccer governing bodies across the globe. Is there a line UEFA - and others - aren’t willing to cross? The emergence of Saudi Arabia as the wealthiest player in the game could give us an answer sooner rather than later.