Tag: Cristiano Ronaldo

Messi scandal spotlights Saudi ambitions to turn desert kingdom into tourist Mecca

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Lionel Messi’s promotional trip to Saudi Arabia has kicked up a storm at his Qatari-owned football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), while also casting a spotlight on Riyadh’s efforts to showcase its heritage and lure foreign visitors. FRANCE 24 spoke to Gulf analyst Karim Sader about Saudi ambitions to turn the desert kingdom into a tourism hotspot. 

Messi, who recently lifted the World Cup trophy in Qatar, was suspended by the Parisian club this week after failing to show up for a training session just days after the French league leaders slumped to their latest, humiliating home defeat. 

Instead of trading passes with the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, the Argentinian football hero was in Saudi Arabia, a falcon perched on his arm, watching a palm-weaving demonstration and touring the Arabian Horse Museum as part of a lucrative commercial deal to promote tourism in the oil-rich nation. 

The ensuing row, which looks set to precipitate the end of Messi’s unhappy two-year spell at PSG, has exposed the competition between Gulf states eager to become major players in the money-making world of football. It has also brought to the fore Riyadh’s ambitions to become a magnet for foreign visitors. 


Tourism is indeed a pillar of “Vision 2030”, an ambitious plan to modernise and diversify the Saudi economy and reduce its dependence on oil, which Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – known as MBS – unveiled in 2016. The aim is to turn this oil kingdom with a dubious human rights record into a high-end tourist destination.  

Home to Islam’s two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, as well as six UNESCO World Heritage sites, Saudi Arabia has primarily attracted Muslim pilgrims so far. In MBS’s vision, the objective is to welcome some 30 million international visitors by 2030 and generate up to a million jobs in tourism. 

FRANCE 24 spoke to political analyst Karim Sader, a specialist in the Gulf region, about the crown prince’s plans to turn Saudi Arabia into a Mecca for foreign visitors, and the limits to his ambitions.  

FRANCE 24: The controversy over Messi has cast a spotlight on Riyadh’s ambitions for tourism. Just how important is the industry to MBS’s “Vision 2030”?  

It is clear that Saudi Arabia is sparing no efforts to build an attractive tourism industry. It’s part of the transformation of Saudi society and the desire for international recognition that MBS is pursuing through his Vision 2030 project. The aim is to develop a number of ‘soft power’ instruments, including tourism. Riyadh is trying to follow in the footsteps of its Gulf neighbours, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, which understood early on that securing international recognition meant investing in sectors with a strong media impact, such as sport, tourism and the media itself.  

Of course, the kingdom has a rich historical heritage that has long been overshadowed by the influence of Wahhabism [editor’s note: a hardline form of Sunni Islam practised in Saudi Arabia], including the magnificent site of Hegra, which bears witness to the Nabataean civilisation. But it still has a lot of work to do to build the image of a tourist destination, logistically and socially speaking. 

That is why MBS is spending lavishly to attract both industry specialists and global stars like Lionel Messi who can serve as a luxury showcase for the country. The same strategy has been deployed in sports with the spectacular signing of another football superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo [who joined Saudi club Al Nassr last December]. It proved to be a resounding PR coup for the Saudi league, which hardly anyone in the West was familiar with.  


THE DEBATE © FRANCE 24

 

In late March, Saudi authorities invited several French musicians, including former first lady Carla Bruni, to give a concert near the remains of the ancient desert city of Al-Ula – a revolutionary step in itself, since we’re talking about a pre-Islamic site. Promoting this type of landmark would have been unthinkable at the height of Wahhabi influence in Saudi Arabia. It’s quite a paradox that the crown prince should be leading this revolution. 

Saudi Arabia has set itself a target of creating 200 museums and organising 400 annual events to attract 30 million foreign visitors by 2030. Is this ambitious goal reachable? 

As always, the crown prince wants to move fast and hit hard – it’s both his strength and his flaw. MBS is in the process of revolutionising Saudi society and giving this sclerotic conservative kingdom a dynamism that would be the envy of the UAE, a country whose development model has long fascinated him. It’s not just a matter of spending lavishly. In his mind, it is also necessary to ensure investments are profitable by designing a technology-based tourism, betting on the construction of ‘smart’ cities that will attract investors.  

The Saudi public will need to be prepared to welcome foreign visitors and manage tourist sites. Some planned sites involve displacing local communities that have been there for many generations, which could lead to protests and security issues. One example is Neom, the futuristic city MBS plans to build in the middle of the desert. So far, the mega-project is a failure and is causing tensions, despite having cost a lot of money and allowed designers, architects and consultants to make a small fortune. In my view, Neom shows the limits of MBS’s ambitions, which could turn against him.  

To attract tourists, Saudi Arabia needs to foster a peaceful climate in the wider region. Could this be a factor behind Riyadh’s current proactive stance on the diplomatic stage? 

The development of tourism is part of MBS’s “Saudi First” strategy, which aims to guarantee the stability of the kingdom in a pacified regional context, both in terms of security and the economy – and whatever the cost in terms of alliances. Riyadh has freed itself from its traditional alliances and now leads an extremely supple diplomacy. This allows it to engage in a rapprochement with [arch-rival] Iran and China while also preserving its partnership with the United States. Diplomatically, as well as economically, the Saudis are now investing in a pragmatic way. The days of careless spending are over; the cliché no longer holds. 

This article was translated from the original in French.



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Why Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia means so much for the Gulf monarchy’s sporting ambitions | CNN

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Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in today’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, CNN’s three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.


Abu Dhabi, UAE
CNN
 — 

It’s a partnership that’s been hailed as “history in the making.”

One of the world’s most famous soccer stars landed in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday, where Cristiano Ronaldo was received in an extravagant ceremony, with excited children sporting his new club’s yellow and blue jerseys.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia’s success in luring the five-time Ballon d’Or winner on a two-year contract with the kingdom’s Al Nassr FC is the Gulf monarchy’s latest step in realizing its sporting ambitions – seemingly at any cost.

According to Saudi state-owned media, Ronaldo will earn an estimated $200 million a year with Al Nassr, making him the world’s highest-paid soccer player.

Shortly after the 37-year-old’s signing with Al Nassr, the club’s Instagram page gained over 5.3 million new followers. Its official website was inaccessible after exceeding its bandwidth limit due to the sudden surge in traffic, and the hashtag #HalaRonaldo – Hello, Ronaldo in Arabic – was trending for days across the Middle East on Twitter.

Analysts say that his recruitment in Saudi Arabia is part of a wider effort by the kingdom to diversify its sources of revenue and become a serious player in the international sporting scene.

It is also seen as a move by the kingdom to shore up its image after it was tarnished by the 2018 dismemberment and killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents, and a devastating war it started in Yemen in 2015.

Critics have decried the kingdom for “sportswashing,” an attempt to burnish one’s reputation through sport.

“I think Saudi Arabia has recognized a couple of years ago that to be a powerful nation internationally, you cannot just rely on hard power,” Danyel Reiche, a visiting research fellow and associate professor at Georgetown University Qatar, told CNN.

“You also need to invest in soft power, and the case of Qatar shows that this can work pretty well,” he said, adding that Saudi Arabia is following in the Qatari approach with sport, but with a delay of around 25 years.

Neighboring Qatar has also faced immense criticism since it won the bid to hosting last year’s FIFA World Cup in 2010.

Despite the smaller Gulf state facing similar accusations of “sportswashing,” the tournament has largely been viewed as a success, not least in exposing the world to a different view of the Middle East, thanks in part to Morocco’s success in reaching the semifinals and Saudi Arabia beating eventual World Cup champion Argentina in their opening group game.

Gulf nations engage in fierce competition to become the region’s premier entertainment and sporting hubs. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, in close proximity to each other, each have their own Formula One racing event. But their competition hasn’t been confined to the region. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also bought trophy European soccer teams.

Riyadh is playing catchup with neighbors who have long realized the importance of investing in sports, said Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at SKEMA Business School in Lille, France, especially as its main source of income – oil – is being gradually shunned.

“This is part of an ongoing attempt to create more resilient economies that are more broadly based upon industries other than those that are derived from oil and gas,” Chadwick told CNN.

Ronaldo’s new club Al Nassr is backed by Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), a subsidiary of the kingdom’s wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has played a pivotal role in Saudi Arabia’s diversification plans.

“It is also a sign of interconnectedness, of globalization and of opening up to the rest of the world,” said Georgetown University’s Reiche.

The move is part of “several recent high profile moves in the sports world, including hosting the Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua world heavywight boxing championship bout in 2019, and launching the LIV Golf championship,” said Omar Al-Ubaydli, director of research at the Bahrain-based Derasat think tank. “It is a significant piece of a large puzzle that represents their economic restructuring.”

The kingdom has been on a path to not only diversify its economy, but also shift its image amid a barrage of criticism over its human rights record and treatment of women. Saudi Arabia is today hosting everything from desert raves to teaming up with renowned soccer players. Argentina’s Lionel Messi last year signed a lucrative promotional deal with the kingdom.

Hailed as the world’s greatest player, 35-year-old Messi ended this year’s World Cup tournament in Qatar with his team’s win over France, making his ambassadorship of even greater value to the kingdom.

The acquisition of such key global figures will also help combat the monarchy’s decades-long reputation of being “secretive” and “ultra-conservative,” James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and an expert on soccer in the Middle East, told CNN’s Eleni Giokos on Wednesday.

Al-Ubaydli said that the kingdom wants to use high profile international sports “as a vehicle for advertising to the world its openness.”

Saudi Arabia bought the English Premier league club Newcastle United in 2021 through a three-party consortium, with PIF being the largest stakeholder. The move proved controversial, as Amnesty International and other human rights defenders worried it would overshadow the kingdom’s human rights violations.

Ronaldo’s work with Saudi Arabia is already being criticized by rights groups who are urging the soccer player to “draw attention to human rights issues” in Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia has an image problem,” especially since Khashoggi’s killing, says Reiche. But the kingdom’s recent investments in sports and entertainment are “not about sportswashing but about developing the country, social change and opening up to the world.”

Saudi Arabia is reportedly weighing a 2030 World Cup bid with Egypt and Greece, but the kingdom’s tourism ministry noted in November that it has not yet submitted an official bid. Chadwick believes that Ronaldo’s deal with Al Nassr, however, may help boost the kingdom’s bid should it choose it pursue it.

Another way Saudi Arabia may benefit from Ronaldo’s acquisition is that it will be able to improve commercial performance, says Chadwick, especially if this collaboration attracts further international talent.

“It is important to see Ronaldo not just as a geopolitical instrument,” said Chadwick, “There is still a commercial component to him and to the purpose he is expected to serve in Saudi Arabia.”

What Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia shows is that the kingdom aspires “to be seen as being the best” and that it wants to be perceived as a “contender and a legitimate member of the international football community,” said Chadwick.

UAE FM meets Syria’s Assad in Damascus in further sign of thawing ties

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received the United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in Damascus on Wednesday in the latest sign of thawing relations between Assad and the Gulf state. The meeting addressed developments in Syria and the wider Middle East, according to UAE state news agency WAM.

  • Background: It was Abdullah bin Zayed’s first visit since a November 2021 meeting with Assad that led to the resumption of relations. Months later, in March 2022, Assad visited the UAE, his first visit to an Arab state since the start of Syria’s civil war.
  • Why it matters: A number of Assad’s former foes have been trying to mend fences with his regime. Last week, talks between the Syrian and Turkish defense ministers were held in Moscow in the highest-level encounter reported between the estranged sides since the war in Syria began. The regional rapprochement is yet to improve the lives of average Syrians. Syria is still under Western sanctions.

Turkish President Erdogan says he could meet with Assad

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech on Thursday that he could meet the Syrian leader “to establish peace.”

  • Background: Erdogan’s comments came after the Moscow talks between the two nations’ defense ministers and intelligence chiefs. “Following this meeting… we will bring our foreign ministers together. And after that, as leaders, we will come together,” Erdogan said on Thursday.
  • Why it matters: The meeting would mark a dramatic shift in Turkey’s decade-long stance on Syria, where Ankara was the prime supporter of political and armed factions fighting to topple Assad. The Turkish military maintains a presence across the Syrian border and within northern Syria, where it backs Syrian opposition forces. Erdogan has also pledged to launch yet another incursion into northern Syria, aiming at creating a 30-km (20-mile) deep “safe zone” that would be emptied of Kurdish fighters.

Iran shuts down French cultural center over Charlie Hebdo’s Khamenei cartoons

Iran announced on Thursday it had ended the activities of a Tehran-based French research institute, in reaction to cartoons mocking Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and fellow Shia Muslim clerics published by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo this week.

  • Background: Iran summoned the French ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday to protest cartoons published by satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. More than 30 cartoons poking fun at Iran’s supreme leader were published by the magazine on Wednesday, in a show of support for the Iranian people who have been protesting the Islamic Republic’s government and its policies.
  • Why it matters: French-Iranian relations have deteriorated significantly since protests broke out in Iran late last year. Paris has publicly supported the protests and spoken out against Iran’s response to them. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna criticized Iran’s freedom of press and judicial independence on Thursday, saying “press freedom exists, contrary to what is going on in Iran and… it is exercised under the supervision of a judge in an independent judiciary – and there too it’s something that Iran knows little of.”

The prized legacy of iconic Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum re-emerged this year when Rolling Stone magazine featured her in its “200 Greatest Singers of All Time.”

Ranking 61st, Umm Kulthum was the only Arab artist to make it to the list, with the magazine saying that she “has no real equivalent among singers in the West.”

Born in a small village northeast of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Umm Kulthum rose to unmatched fame as she came to represent “the soul of the pan-Arab world,” the music magazine said.

“Her potent contralto, which could blur gender in its lower register, conveyed breathtaking emotional range in complex songs that, across theme and wildly-ornamented variations, could easily last an hour, as she worked crowds like a fiery preacher,” it wrote.

Nicknamed “the lady of Arab singing,” her music featured both classical Arabic poetry as well as colloquial songs still adored by younger generations. Her most famous pieces include “Inta Uumri” (you are my life), “Alf Leila Weileila” (a thousand and one nights), “Amal Hayati” (hope of my life) and “Daret al-Ayyam” (the days have come around). Some of her songs have been remixed to modern beats that have made their way to Middle Eastern nightclubs.

The singer remains an unmatched voice across the Arab World and her music can still be heard in many traditional coffee shops in Old Cairo’s neighborhoods and other parts of the Arab world.

Umm Kulthum’s death in 1975 brought millions of mourners to the streets of Cairo.

By Nadeen Ebrahim

Women athletes aim their air rifles while competing in a local shooting championship in Yemen's Houthi rebel-held capital Sanaa on January 3.



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