Saudi Arabia is more than just a recent football haven attracting billions in investments. Over the past two years alone, there have been 21 legal disputes between players and Saudi clubs, all of which were settled in favor of the footballers by FIFA and TAS, resulting in a total compensation of $16 million.
The Saudi regime, particularly under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been in control since 2022 and is accused of severe human rights violations, seeks to reshape the country’s image. Sports, notably football, are being utilized for this purpose.
The Riyadh government has allocated €6 billion to sports since 2021, with €3.5 billion specifically directed towards football – an amount exceeding €2 billion last summer. This investment includes transfers and salaries in the Saudi Professional League, which houses the four major clubs: Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Ahli. The allure of big names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Neymar, and Mane in 2023 has turned the football league into a magnet for stars. However, Saudi Arabia isn’t necessarily a sought-after destination for players and coaches; it’s not suitable for everyone. Many who were initially drawn to the Persian Gulf by lucrative deals ended up returning disgruntled, frustrated, and compelled to reclaim their money through legal channels in Switzerland, FIFA, or CAS.
In a 2022 report, the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) advised players to avoid transfers to seven countries, including Saudi Arabia and Romania, primarily due to the recurring issue of unpaid wages.
Argentinian Lisandro Alzugara, transferred from Universidad Catolica (Ecuador) on August 1, 2022, suffered an ankle injury on August 9 in a friendly match in Jeddah. Three weeks later, he was released, with the reproach that his absence from training was “unexplainable,” despite receiving treatment for the injury. The real reason was his occupation of one of the eight spots reserved for foreign players, prompting Al-Ahli to part ways with the South American, whose contract expired after just 38 days, precisely at the close of the transfer window.
In February 2023, the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (CRD) ordered Al-Ahli to pay Lisandro $750,000 – $260,000 covering the signing fee, a one-month salary, and $490,000 for contract termination. Tunisian Hamdi Nagguez and Englishman Louis Grabban were also victims of Al-Ahli. The former, dismissed in January 2022, five days after requesting $335,556 in unpaid wages, saw the team ordered to pay Nagguez a total of $869,890 six months later. The latter signed a two-year contract in August 2022 but complained to FIFA three months later, demanding $400,000 after being released for the absurd reason of refusing to open a bank account in Saudi Arabia. Grabban sought $2.2 million, but CRD decided he should receive compensation of $700,000.
Al-Ahli, which also had 13 conflicts with coaches from 2021-2023, is not alone, as many other clubs have done the same in Saudi Arabia.
Club Abha announced in January 2022 that Spanish defender Dani Suarez was released, and his contract was canceled with immediate effect. They claimed he had violated basic fairness rules.
Al-Nassr, the club of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mane, Laporte, and Brozovic, expelled Moroccan Abderrazak Hamdallah in 2021, citing their frustration with the “unprofessional attitude of the player.”
Arar FC accused Brazilian Ferreira Gimaraes, nicknamed Kaka (no relation to the 2002 world champion, former midfielder of Milan and Real), of violating the contract after seeking help from the Saudi Sports Minister on social media. He, too, was not paid. In his plea, Gimaraes revealed that Arar had held his family hostage in Saudi Arabia to prevent him from leaving the country. Eventually, he was compensated $87,000 by FIFA’s decision.
Another case examined by the Dispute Resolution Chamber, according to The Athletic website, is that of Spaniard Alberto Botia. In the summer of 2021, after Al-Wehda was relegated, his entry visa was blocked upon returning from the camp held in Slovenia. Suddenly, the agreement with the club was terminated, but he appealed this decision to FIFA, accusing them of delaying his salary payment nine times. For everything that happened to him in Saudi Arabia, he brought home $2.3 million.
FIFA took into account all these cases and responded. In the summer, the headquarters banned Al-Ahli from registering domestic and international transfers for two consecutive periods. However, the Jeddah club appealed to CAS, and in the meantime, while waiting for the court’s decision in Lausanne, they spent $200 million on new players, including Mahrez (Man. City), Saint-Maximin (Newcastle), Mendy (Chelsea), Kessie (Barcelona), and Firmino (Liverpool).
Al-Nassr was initially not allowed to enter the transfer market this summer due to an unpaid debt from the 2018 transfer of Nigerian Ahmed Musa (Leicester). He reached an agreement for $513,000, and the transfer ban for the club was lifted.