Saudi Arabia, football and faiths role in a revolution

May 09, 2024

“It’s where I want to be. It’s important for me to be in a Muslim country, where I feel people (are) already like me. It will allow me to have a new life and I can’t wait to live there.”

Karim Benzema left little room for ambiguity when justifying his decision to swap European football for playing in Saudi Arabia this summer. The sport’s most recent Ballon d’Or winner joined Saudi Pro League (SPL) champions Al Ittihad from Real Madrid in June; a transfer that initially raised eyebrows but has been followed by an exodus of other big-name Europe-based players moving to the Gulf state’s clubs.

While eye-watering wages and a lifestyle of convenience are largely considered the primary motivations for recognisable global talent moving to Saudi Arabia, the 35-year-old Benzema provided another rationale — his faith.

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In the weeks since Benzema’s move, among the rush of players from Europe’s top leagues to do the same, another seven are also Muslims — N’Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Seko Fofana, Moussa Dembele, Riyad Mahrez and this week, Sadio Mane.

Since Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund, PIF, took control of four SPL clubs in June, the deep-pocketed priority appears to be signing globally recognised players, those who have played top-level football in Europe and are available to sign. But sources, who like others in this article have asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, have told The Athletic that recruiting elite Muslim talent has also been part of the strategy.

Benzema spoke of his faith after sealing a move to Saudi Arabia (Photo by AFP)

While former France international Benzema explicitly outlined his intentions, how significant is Saudi’s position as a historically Muslim country when attracting players of that faith to its league? What role does faith play for Muslim players? And how was Saudi football culture able to thrive under a conservative religious regime?

Lucrative financial packages and a smoother cultural transition go some way in explaining the symbiotic desire for Muslim players to move there, but The Athletic has spoken to a wide range of individuals and experts to gain a closer understanding of the experience of players of the faith and how Islam ties into the Saudi footballing phenomenon.

“The Middle East, or Arab football of the Middle East, is among the most politicised football cultures on Earth,” says Dag Henrik Tuastad, a senior lecturer of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oslo in Norway.

“Historically, there were patriarchal structures, and not only the male control of women, but the older generations’ control of young people. The youth lacked arenas together. And then football became a space for a form of social revolt, where you could bond together and get together outside of the family chains.

“The political regimes allowed it as they could also use the football arenas to contain the public there.

“In Saudi Arabia, there were also many conservative Muslim clerics who saw football as an agent of Westernisation and secularisation. There was scepticism because they regarded it as a challenge to their moral code of Islam.”

Such tension laid the foundations for football’s role as a uniquely powerful popular arena for social expression within the nation, particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring in the early 2010s.

In 2012, Prince Nawaf bin Faisal felt obliged to step down as head of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation after protests from football supporters over the country’s failure to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil two years later. While free elections are rarely seen elsewhere in the country, the football federation subsequently elected Abdullah Ahmed Eid Al-Harbi — a former goalkeeper and, significantly, a commoner outside the Saud dynasty.

“The historical foundation of the state was of a clan, Saud, that aligned with the religious ideology of Wahab,” Tuastad says. “The ideological foundation of this clan allowed them to export it to the whole nation and be the first among equals of the tribes because of their religious legitimacy.

“But now the gap between that sort of Wahhabism and youth sentiments is too wide.”

Since being appointed crown prince in June 2017, Mohammed Bin Salman, known as MBS, has attempted to address the generational divide by imposing social reforms at breakneck speed, including raising the profile of sport in the kingdom.

“Under MBS, we have had what can be called a ‘refolution’ — a mix between a revolution and reforms,” says Tuastad. “Essentially, he’s young (turning 38 this month) and he’s giving the youth what they want.”

Football is passionately followed in Saudi Arabia (Getty Images)

Critics view the Saudi government’s investment in football and other sports as an attempt to draw attention away from the country’s bleak human rights record — which has been described as “appalling” by Amnesty International — and oppression of political dissent.

As an absolute monarchy, the growing liberalisation is very much a top-down approach. This makes it increasingly complicated to understand the sentiment towards the country’s modernisation as those alienated by the situation, whether in football or broader society, often go unheard.

Saudi citizens tell The Athletic that their country’s situation is hotly debated in some private circles, as there is a dissonance in reconciling the positive changes that are improving Saudi lives with the state’s wider political motivations. While the idea of using sport as a tool to achieve socio-political and economic objectives is not new, Saudi football possesses organic roots and has drawn great fanfare among supporters.

For example, Benzema’s destination Al Ittihad are often considered the “people’s club”. Based in the port city of Jeddah, second only to the capital Riyadh in terms of size, they have garnered an affiliation with its working-class communities. They have also traditionally held fans from the Hawsawi clan, which has west African roots, and consequently have seen a greater representation of African and immigrant players compared to other Saudi teams. Similarly, Al Wehda’s red-and-white colours are inspired by the Indonesian flag, a nod to a large immigrant population from that east Asian country based in their home region of Mecca.

This parallels the fandom of European clubs, such as Tottenham Hotspur’s association with the Jewish community stemming from their geographical location — many Hasidic Jews settled in the northern part of London, where Spurs are based, in the mid-20th century while fleeing persecution in Europe. Similarly, Atletico Madrid are viewed as the more working-class of the two prominent clubs in the Spanish capital, having originally played in the industrial district of Vallecas.

Retired Omani goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi, who played in Oman, England, Norway and Saudi Arabia during a 22-year career, recalls the fanatic nature of Saudi football.

“(Riyadh-based) Al Hilal is like Manchester United. If they had a stadium of 100,000 people they would fill it in the big games,” Al-Habsi says. “They are crazy about football.”

As the Saudi Pro League embarks on its ambition to rival the top European leagues — its public aim is to be considered as among the world’s top 10 — its homeland being the birthplace of Islam has provided an opportunity to help attract high-profile Muslim talent to its clubs.

Sports lawyer and football agent Dr Erkut Sogut, whose clients include Muslim former Arsenal and Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Ozil, explains the dynamic.

“For someone who is a practising Muslim and going to a Muslim country, of course, it has its advantages,” Dr Sogut says. “A Muslim who prays five times a day, who does all the things that a Muslim should, as some of these players are, the environment is important.

“Prayers are important and being in a place where there is a mosque always nearby matters. Even if the players are non-practising Muslims, they might have parents or family members that are, and they won’t have to think about things like, ‘Is the food I’m eating Halal?’.

“It’s very important for some. It is a part of your life and you don’t want to give that up.”

Al-Habsi, a devout Muslim, echoes the sentiment, adding, “I can’t live without it (faith).”

Prominent players such as Juventus’ 2018 World Cup-winning France midfielder Paul Pogba and Liverpool’s Egypt national-team captain Mohamed Salah have paid multiple visits to the holy sites of Mecca and Medina to perform Umrah, a recommended pilgrimage for Muslims that can be carried out at any time of the year. Familiarity with the country and its customs, therefore, can help aid players’ decision-making when Saudi emerges as a potential career destination.

Paul Pogba in Mecca, performing the holy pilgrimage of Umrah during #Ramadan pic.twitter.com/DDaUHYUB37

— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) May 28, 2017

Similarly, Jeddah is approximately a 40-minute drive from Mecca, which provides Muslim players the chance to reside in close proximity to sacred cities of Islam. Less than a week after his own arrival at Al Ittihad, two weeks after they signed Benzema, midfielder Kante (a World Cup, Premier League and Champions League winner who had joined from Chelsea) was seen performing Hajj — the pilgrimage that is compulsory for able Muslims to make at least once in their lives — with AC Milan midfielder Ismael Bennacer.

The majority of Muslim players to have made the switch to the SPL this summer are also of west African heritage, with the added intersectionality of race being a potential further consideration.

Moussa Marega, a striker who has been at Al Hilal since 2021, walked off the pitch in protest after suffering racist abuse from opposition fans while playing for Porto against Vitoria Guimaraes in the Portuguese league the previous year. He stated in a recent interview, “I could have gone to a club in another country (in Europe) but I preferred to move to a different continent after the incident in Portugal.

“My agent called me and told me there was an offer from Saudi Arabia and asked me if I was interested. A week or two before, I had spoken to my wife about the future and the possibility of going to a Muslim country since we are Muslims.”

The Mali international has been fondly received during his two years in the kingdom and has earned the nickname of “Sheikh Moussa” among Al Hilal supporters — in reference to his visible religiosity. In Saudi, unlike neighbouring countries in the region, Sheikh is defined as religious leadership, often as a synonym for Imam, rather than to indicate tribal or political leadership.

While the kingdom is not free of racial discrimination — and slavery was only abolished there in 1962 — there are limited reports regarding discrimination towards footballers within stadiums, a noticeable departure from the existing European landscape. While a lack of reports may not tell the full story, in this instance it tallies with those The Athletic spoke to, who said abusive chanting is more common between sets of fans and rarely spills over to be directed at players.

Supporters in the SPL appear less concerned by a player’s faith or ethnicity, with greater affinity felt towards their footballing pedigree and interest in Saudi culture.

“It definitely has some value if a Muslim player joins, because us fans will feel like he’d enjoy his stay more and like being in the country. And, obviously, you have that shared Muslim brotherhood,” says Abdulaziz, a football fan in Saudi. “But we tend to appreciate it more when players try to know more about the culture.

“If they want to know about the food, about the music and our traditions that is highly appreciated by Saudis in general because you don’t see it that often. So when someone does it and you know it’s genuine with good intentions, it’s really appreciated.”

Former Swansea City, Marseille and France forward Bafetimbi Gomis is a non-Muslim but is one of the most revered foreigners to have played in the country. Alongside his goalscoring exploits for Al Hilal from 2018-22, Gomis has been pictured wearing the traditional Arab dress, drinking kahwa (Middle Eastern coffee) and posting about visits to different cities in the country on his social media accounts.

Al Hilal I love you! 💙
Saudi Arabia I love you ! 🇸🇦👑
Football brought me back here but what I experienced and discovered here went beyond football.
I can only say a big THANK YOU. pic.twitter.com/1LGFFsZChb

— Bafétimbi Gomis (@BafGomis) January 25, 2022

Similarly, Brazilian playmaker Elton spent the majority of his career in the kingdom, playing for four Saudi clubs between 2007 and 2020, and also developed a cult-like following. After starting his career with Rio de Janeiro’s Corinthians, Elton’s wholehearted embrace of Saudi culture — even learning Arabic — has since seen him adopt the name “Elton Arabia”.

Al-Habsi believes, however, that Muslim footballers might find a deeper sense of gratification when outside the kingdom.

“For players, the lifestyle it’s not really that different wherever you go,” he says. “Football is football.

“I actually enjoyed myself more in Europe, because I represented Muslim players. When you play abroad, you represent yourself as a Muslim. I had to show it to the world and that was a beautiful thing.”

The good news for those who want to do the same as Al-Habsi is that recent years have seen significant strides towards the accommodation of the needs of Muslim players in the West, particularly in England.

There are now over 40 Muslim players in the Premier League and clubs across the UK are increasingly catering to Muslim players’ needs.

Organisations such as Nujum Sports, which supports Muslim athletes, helped west London’s Queens Park Rangers become the first English club to host Jummah (Friday) prayers for their players and staff last year. Since then other teams, including Manchester City, have followed suit while Blackburn Rovers used their Ewood Park pitch to congregate hundreds of Muslims for Eid prayers.

Muslim worshippers pray on the first day of Eid on the pitch at Tranmere Rovers (Photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

Al-Habsi was among the first Arab players to play in the Premier League when he joined Bolton Wanderers in 2006, having left his native Oman for three years in Norway before reaching England.

“Every club I went to, they made sure I had the right things for me — whether it was to make sure I had halal food or for prayers,” he says. “Wherever I went, and I had the chance to play at big stadiums such as Wembley and Old Trafford, they made sure I had a place to practise my religion.

“We have lots of Muslim players in the Premier League now, and they respect themselves. That’s why, for example, the Premier League stopped giving champagne as man of the match awards. If they didn’t respect themselves, nobody would care about them.”

In 2021, the Premier League agreed to allow matches to be paused briefly during the holy month of Ramadan so Muslim players could break their fasts at sunset. Across wider Europe, however, there remains a chequered approach towards accommodating Muslim players like this during Ramadan.

Similar to the UK, the Netherlands allowed matches to be paused. In Germany, it is left up to the discretion of individual referees without a formalised policy. The French Football Federation, however, sent a message to its referees last season prohibiting match interruptions for players to break their fasts.

“These interruptions do not respect the provisions of the statutes of the FFF,” the statement read.

Moreover, French top-flight club Nantes dropped their Algerian defender Jaouen Hadjam in April this year because he refused to stop fasting. “It is not a punishment,” said Nantes manager Antoine Kombouare when explaining the decision. “I set rules. It’s his choice, and I respect it.”

And last month, a court in France also ruled in favour of the French Football Federation’s (FFF) decision to ban female players who choose to wear the Islamic headscarf during matches.

Dr Sogut says that while there are great examples of inclusive coaches and clubs it is not universal and says players will talk about which environments are welcoming to Muslims.

“It depends on the people who are running the club and what kind of understanding they have,” he says. “A great example is (Liverpool manager) Jurgen Klopp. He gives Muslim players the room to do their prayers, to break their fast during training, he has that level of understanding. For him, it is never an issue.

“But then there are some others who don’t have that. They might not be as open or maybe they don’t understand because there has been such a poor picture of Islam created in recent years in Europe, so people just think, ‘Oh no, that’s bad’.

“It also makes a difference if there are other Muslim players in the same club. For example, they tell others, ‘This coach is very friendly for Muslim players, so you can live your religion in peace’.”

In Saudi Arabia, the entire nation shifts its schedule during the month of Ramadan and football is no exception. Training is held at night and matches often kick-off as late as 10pm local time.

Normally, matches do not occur during the afternoons anyway to the high temperatures at that time of day and games were scheduled around the Adhan (prayer call), to ensure it came either before kick-off or at half-time. Every stadium also includes a prayer section within the grounds, or there is a neighbouring mosque — although there are no such facilities for other religions.

As part of the erosion of clerical influence, the state declared in 2021 that businesses could remain open during the five daily prayers, removing the Muslim world’s only mandatory prayer-time shutdown.

Football matches were traditionally scheduled in each city around their respective prayer times, to ensure the evening Maghreb prayers or the night-time Isha prayers occurred either before the games began or during half-time. This caused difficulties in scheduling, however, as prayer times are lunar-calendar based and consistently change.

For the season about to begin, therefore, the SPL has placed fixed kick-off times at 6pm and 9pm during the summer months (August to October and March to May), with 3pm starts being added during the cooler winter months (November to February).

Some matches last season clashed with prayer calls and one supporter described it as creating a “slightly awkward experience” as large numbers of people were uncertain about how to respond. With Saudi’s ambitions for the SPL to become a globally-watched league, these fixed kick-offs are also intended to make timings more palatable for European TV audiences, as international broadcasters normally schedule games in consistent time slots. The SPL is currently discussing various global TV deals for the new season.

This situation reflects a society that is continually adjusting to social reforms with little space for questioning and in which some predated customs no longer appear to apply.

While Benzema spoke of the importance of his faith in moving to Saudi Arabia, there has been no shortage of non-Muslim players arriving, with Liverpool captain and England midfielder Jordan Henderson signing for Al Ettifaq, a club in Dammam, the kingdom’s fourth-biggest city, managed by his former Anfield team-mate Steven Gerrard. Similarly, Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic — who captained that club in their recent Champions League final defeat by Manchester City — has joined Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr in Riyadh.

The main appeal is the life-changing money on offer — Henderson’s offer was described as a “frightening” amount, about four times what he was earning in the Premier League — but Saudi Arabia also has a low crime rate, a lively (alcohol-free) night-time culture and many of the luxuries elite footballers might expect.

The wealthier in society there tend to live in sheltered compounds.

The Al Muhammadiyah compound in Riyadh, for example, is a popular residence for footballers. For players and families that drink alcohol, the neighbouring nations of Bahrain, less than an hour’s drive from Dammam, and Dubai (a two-hour flight from Riyadh), have also been options to reside in.

A Ronaldo short on display at Al-Nassr Cafe in the Boulevard entertainment city in Saudi capital Riyadh (Photo: Giuseppe Cacace / AFP)

Unlike European lifestyles, due to the blistering heat, Middle Eastern lifestyles tend to be nocturnal.

“It varies from city to city, but in Riyadh the people here like to stay up late,” says Abdulaziz, a resident of the Saudi capital. “If you go out at 4am, you’ll still find the streets a bit crowded. It’s because there is a strong culture of hanging out in cafes and restaurants. You often see footballers in the more fancy places as well.”

Following Ronaldo’s move to Saudi in January, media reports in Spain suggested the Saudi government had made specific provisions to allow the Portugal international to live with his partner Georgina Rodriguez, avoiding a ban on unmarried cohabitating couples. Rather than Ronaldo receiving special privileges, however, many of the people The Athletic spoke to said the kingdom’s authorities have heavily relaxed enforcing such customs, which stem from a more conservative time period, on its residents.

They say this is primarily a result of the religious police — officially titled the Commission for the Promotion and the Prevention of Vice — being heavily stripped of their powers.

For example, in a 2010 public meeting, the police’s committee director stated it was responsible for eradicating the “erroneous behaviour that affects society, such as drinking alcohol, magic, immorality and homosexuality”. In 2016, the force was banned by royal decree from pursuing, questioning or detaining anyone suspected of a crime — significantly reducing its influence on Saudi social life.

“The government isn’t in your business as Western media like to make other people think,” one citizen tells The Athletic. “They generally leave people alone to do whatever they want in their lives.”

This reflects a growing sense of liberalisation in the kingdom. The pace of the country’s social makeover is difficult for those inside and outside of it to fully comprehend but it does not extend to all areas of life. Along with the suppression of political dissent, there remains significant room for improvement in terms of LGBTQI+ rights.

People The Athletic have spoken to for this report say the state’s “blind-eye” approach extends to expressions of sexuality behind closed doors, although public intimacy is condemned for both heterosexual and LGBTQ+ couples.

The Saudi government announced in May that LGBTQI+ visitors are welcome as tourists but Human Rights Watch reported that judges in the Gulf nation — which has no written laws concerning sexual orientation or gender identity — continue to use principles of codified Shari’ah law to sanction people suspected of having same-sex relations. In 2021, The Athletic spoke directly with LGBTQI+ Saudis, who raised severe concerns over societal shunning and mistreatment by authorities.

Another prominent element in Saudi society’s transformation that may be in the minds of players considering a move there with their families has been the treatment of women. The kingdom historically possessed a strict male guardianship system that has been changed through a number of reforms introduced since 2017, including the removal of dress regulations and mandatory gender segregation.

Some reforms have received criticism from international human rights activists.

For example, while a Personal Status Law was introduced in 2022 that granted women the legal freedom to decide who they will marry, Amnesty International described the changes as “codifying discrimination against women in most aspects of family life”. This is because only men can be legal guardians and also the bill was not made public before it was adopted, offering women’s rights activists no room to offer input.

Children play football in front of the Hasan Anani mosque in Jeddah (Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP)

As part of moves towards the inclusion of women in the workforce and society, a ban on females attending football matches was lifted in 2018. Women’s interest in the sport, however, has been long-standing.

“I had a PhD student who was doing field work in Saudi Arabia around 2013,” says Tuastad. “She saw the underground football activity for women, where they were sort of throwing football boots out the window and telling others, ‘I’m going to meet a female friend’ before secretly organising football matches.

“So, it was inevitable that, as football was getting more popular, it was also going to be popular among females in Saudi Arabia.”

The Saudi state subsequently developed a domestic women’s league in 2019 and a women’s national team was formed in 2021 but sceptics argue the integration of women is part of attempts for political legitimacy linked to potentially hosting a major international tournament, such as a World Cup. For example, after significant backlash from the International Olympic Committee in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics, the kingdom sent its first two female athletes to compete in the Games that year.

“It would be very interesting if they get the (World Cup) bid in 2030,” Tuastad says.

“My idea about sportswashing is, in a way, that large-scale sporting events can sometimes have the opposite effect — you have to show your dirty clothes as well.”

While societal progress may be uneven, and difficult to assess, in a country that continues to adapt to an unprecedented upheaval of traditional customs, football’s focal role is undeniable.

The latest chapter for the sport in Saudi Arabia is a trip into uncharted territory but one theory is that the recent lavish spending of the SPL is as much designed to encourage the country’s youth to stay in the kingdom as it is to bring over the game’s best players, both Muslims and non-Muslims.

According to its 2022 census, 42 per cent of the country’s 32.2 million population is made up of foreign nationals, while 63 per cent of Saudis are aged under 30.

“The Qatar World Cup (last year) showcased a form of post-Islamism that is still religious, but is not fundamentalist,” says Tuastad. “It’s a centrist form of Islam that has a much broader appeal in the global Muslim community and also outside it. And that’s where Saudi Arabia is heading as well.

“Before MBS and Vision 2030 (a governmental diversification programme), Saudi youth went abroad to have fun. They spent billions annually on vacations and entertainment in Dubai and Europe. Having Western Muslims settling in Saudi signals that the tide is turning. Now, Saudi Arabia is where Muslim Westerners not only go to play football and earn money, but enjoy life.

“And Saudi youth no longer need to go abroad to have fun and entertainment — they can spend their money at home.”

The Saudi Pro League’s new era begins next Friday, August 11, in Jeddah, when an Al Ahli side likely to contain newly-signed former Premier League regulars Mahrez, Mendy, Roberto Firmino and Allan Saint-Maximin take on Al Hazem. Three days later, Al Ittihad supporters will be able to witness Benzema — potentially flanked by Kante and ex-Liverpool midfielder Fabinho — play for the champions away to Al Raed.

The league’s new assortment of global stars would have likely been a video-game fantasy for many of Saudi’s football-crazed youth just two months ago. And as the world watches closely, the locals seem willing to take a blind leap of faith.

“I still can’t quite believe it, to be honest,” says Riyadh-based fan Abdulaziz. “It feels like a dream until we actually get to see it.”

(Other contributor: Wael Jabir)

(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)

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