For Saudi Arabia, rush of star football signings could be its most effective tool | Will Unwin

Karim Benzema has joined Cristiano Ronaldo in the kingdom and other big-name players will follow in a carefully worked project

Another day, another high-profile Champions League footballer being offered huge money to move to Saudi Arabia. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzama have signed up, N’Golo Kanté is close to joining the party and Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are among others being courted. It all forms part of a plan to use the sport to sanitise the country’s reputation.

If Tuesday’s effective Saudi takeover of men’s golf was the kingdom’s most striking move yet, its football project is also making considerable waves. The Saudi football authorities are working to a blueprint that started long before the various Ballon d’Or winners were on the transfer radar, funded by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns 80% of Newcastle United, on Monday acquired 75% stakes in four Saudi clubs and is behind the golf manoeuvres. They have brought in experts to devise how to best make an impact, having also targeted boxing and Formula One as tools for reputational gain.

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