Saudi Pro League Table
Contents
- 0.1 Which team is No 1 in Saudi Pro League?
- 0.2 What happens if you win the Saudi Pro League?
- 0.3 Is MLS as good as EPL?
- 0.4 How strong is the Saudi Pro League?
- 1 Who is the owner of Al Nassr FC?
- 2 Does Saudi Pro League play in Champions League?
- 3 Do Saudi teams get Champions League?
- 4 How many goals Ronaldo scored in Al Nassr?
- 5 Is MLS field smaller than FIFA?
- 6 Why did Messi go to MLS?
- 7 What is Saudi Pro League?
- 8 Does Saudi Pro League play Champions League?
- 9 What level is Hellenic League?
What level is Saudi Pro League?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Organising body | Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1976 ; 47 years ago |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Confederation | AFC |
| Number of teams | 18 (since 2023–24) |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | First Division League |
| Domestic cup(s) | King Cup Super Cup |
| International cup(s) | AFC Champions League Arab Club Champions Cup |
| Current champions | Al-Ittihad (9th title) ( 2022–23 ) |
| Most championships | Al-Hilal (18 titles) |
| Most appearances | Mohamed Al-Deayea (406) |
| Top goalscorer | Majed Abdullah (189 goals) |
| TV partners | Shahid and SSC ( MENA ) |
| Website | spl.com.sa |
| Current: 2023–24 Saudi Pro League |
The Saudi Pro League ( SPL ), known as the Roshn Saudi League ( RSL ), for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of association football in the Saudi league system. The first season of competition was the 1976–77 season, The league had been operating as a round-robin tournament from its inaugural season until the 1989–90 season, after that the Saudi Federation decided to merge the football League with the King’s Cup in one tournament and the addition of the Golden Box.
- The Golden Box would be an end of season knockout competition played between the top four teams of the regular league season.
- These teams would play at a semi-final stage to crown the champions of Saudi Arabia.
- The league reverted to a round-robin system in the 2007–08 season.
- The association is also regularly ranked with the highest coefficient in Asia due to successful and consistent performances in the AFC Champions League by its clubs.
Al-Hilal is the most successful team, holding 18 titles in its history and most recently winning the title in 2021–22, Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr are also some of the most successful teams in the league. Beginning in 2023, the league has experienced international widespread exposure due to attracting numerous top level players from European leagues through financially lucrative contracts, immediately becoming a star-studded league.
Which team is No 1 in Saudi Pro League?
Al-Hilal – 
Kalidou Koulibaly left Chelsea after just one season Al-Hilal have won a record four Asian Champions Leagues and 18 Saudi titles. Ex-Benfica boss Jorge Jesus replaced former Oxford manager Ramon Diaz this summer. They made a splash on 15 August when they signed Brazilian superstar Neymar from Paris St-Germain for a reported 90m euros (£77.6m), while also acquiring Serbia striker Aleksandar Mitrovic from Fulham in a reported £50m deal.
What happens if you win the Saudi Pro League?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Season | 2022–2023 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 25 August 2022 – 31 May 2023 |
| Champions | Al-Ittihad (9th title) |
| Relegated | Al-Adalah Al-Batin |
| AFC Champions League | Al-Ittihad Al-Hilal Al-Fayha Al-Nassr |
| FIFA Club World Cup | Al-Ittihad |
| Matches played | 240 |
| Goals scored | 648 (2.7 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Abderrazak Hamdallah (21 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Al-Ittihad 5–0 Al-Adalah (10 February 2023) Al-Raed 5–0 Damac (15 May 2023) |
| Biggest away win | Al-Batin 0–5 Al-Fateh (8 September 2022) Al-Adalah 0–5 Al-Nassr (5 April 2023) |
| Highest scoring | Al-Raed 2–4 Al-Fayha (14 January 2023) Al-Batin 2–4 Al-Shabab (9 February 2023) Al-Wehda 3–3 Al-Hilal (2 March 2023) Al-Fateh 1–5 Al-Ittihad (18 March 2023) Al-Fateh 2–4 Al-Adalah (15 May 2023) |
| Longest winning run | Al-Ittihad Al-Shabab Al-Taawoun (6 matches) |
| Longest unbeaten run | Al-Nassr (17 matches) |
| Longest winless run | Al-Batin (17 matches) |
| Longest losing run | Al-Khaleej (6 matches) |
| Highest attendance | 59,892 Al-Ittihad 2–0 Al-Tai (31 May 2023) |
| Lowest attendance | 284 Al-Wehda 0–1 Al-Fayha (31 May 2023) |
| Total attendance | 2,241,254 |
| Average attendance | 9,339 |
| ← 2021–22 2023–24 → |
The 2022–23 Saudi Professional League (known as the Roshn Saudi League for sponsorship reasons) was the 47th edition of the Saudi Professional League, the top Saudi professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1976,
Fixtures for the first half of the 2022–23 season were announced on 4 August 2022. Al-Hilal were the three-time defending champions after winning their recording extending 18th title last season, Al-Adalah, Al-Khaleej, and Al-Wehda join as the three promoted clubs from the 2021–22 Yelo League, They replaced Al-Ahli, Al-Faisaly, and Al-Hazem who were relegated to the 2022–23 Yelo League,
The winner will play in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia as the host club. On 27 May, Al-Ittihad secured their ninth league title, with one game to spare, following a 3–0 away win against Al-Fayha, Al-Batin were the first team to be relegated following a 1–0 defeat away to Al-Ittihad on 23 May.
Is MLS as good as EPL?
Is the MLS Better Than the Premier League? – OK, so realistically it’s a no contest. The Premier League is without a doubt better than the MLS. But don’t go totally writing off Major League Soccer just yet. According to Global Football Rankings the Premier League is the strongest league in the world.
- Major League Soccer is ranked as the 15th strongest league in the world but continues to climb up the ranks.
- Philadelphia Union are the strongest team in the MLS but according to the rankings, would be relegated if they were playing in the Premier League.
- 🏈 NFL 🏀 NBA ⚾️ MLB ⚽️ MLS ⚽️ Premier League pic.twitter.com/Msge8wAwXx — Sportico (@Sportico) January 26, 2023 So the top teams in the MLS wouldn’t be competitive in the Premier League yet, but they’re comparable with the top sides in the English Championship, the second tier of English soccer.
They’d also be competitive in some of Europe’s top leagues including the Portuguese Liga and Dutch Eredivisie. In terms of European competition the top MLS teams would be competitive in the Europa League, UEFA’s second tier continental tournament, but would be out of their depth in the Champions League.
How strong is the Saudi Pro League?
Saudi Pro League Level – The Saudi Pro League is currently nowhere near comparable to the likes of the English Premier League, or even the English Championship, which is ranked as the 11th best league in the world. While the EPL is widely rated as the best league in the world, the Saudi Pro League sits in 58th position, well below even England’s League Two (33rd).
Who joined Saudi Pro League?
The 2023 summer transfer window has seen big-name players such as Neymar, Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Aymeric Laporte all move to clubs in Saudi Arabia for lucrative offers. With the Saudi transfer window now closed, Saudi Pro League clubs had spent a whopping £784.2m during this summer transfer window, according to Transfermarkt data.
Who is the owner of Al Nassr FC?
Al Nassr owner –
- Specific ownership details on Al Nassr are sparse, but it is Saudi-owned and operated with close ties to the country’s royal family.
- Musalli Al-Muammar is the president of the club and was elected by Al Nassr board members in 2021 having previously been president of the Saudi Pro League for nearly two years.
- He was the preferred choice of Prince Khalid bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, who reportedly provides support for the club.
- Prior to Al-Muammar’s appointment, Safwan Al-Suwaiket was removed as president after a number of irregularities were identified while he was in charge.
- Al Nassr was co-founded by brothers Hussein Al-Jabaa and Zaid Al-Jabaa in 1955 with former Saudi Prince Abdul Rahman bin Saud Al Saud becoming involved five years later as the club turned professional.
After conquering Europe 👑The iconic star is on a new mission to conquer ASIA! 🌏 💛 — AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN)
Is Saudi a strong football team?
Image source, Reuters Image caption, Saudi Arabia has attracted some of the biggest football stars in the world Al Hilal club is Saudi Arabia’s most decorated football team having won 66 trophies. They have also won the AFC Champions League a record four times, making the Riyadh-based club the most successful team in Asia.
Despite its impressive history, for many supporters, 19 August 2023 marked the beginning of a new era for the club when Neymar Junior was unveiled in front of more than 65,000 ecstatic fans. A volley of fireworks, followed by a drone show projecting Neymar’s face, lit up Riyadh’s sky as the Brazilian forward walked onto the pitch wearing the club’s traditional dark blue kit.
“It is a very special day for us. Neymar is a mega star. He will bring in a lot of fans to Al Hilal. I think the whole of Brazil will support us now. The club will be known everywhere,” Al Hilal fan Abdullah Almutawa told the BBC, who came to witness the ceremony.
The ambitious project to make Saudi Arabia an international football hub started with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr in January on a two-and-a-half-year deal said to be worth over $400m (£318m or 370m euros) in wages. This opened the floodgates for a jaw-dropping summer transfer window with the Saudi league snapping up some of the biggest names in the sport,
Karim Benzema was the next big signing in June when he moved to Jeddah-based Al Ittihad from Real Madrid. Since then, a host of prominent names including Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Jordan Henderson, N’Golo Kante, have swapped European leagues for the Saudi Pro League.
During the summer, the Saudi Pro League spent more than $900m on transfer fees to acquire foreign players, making it the second-highest spender after the English Premier League. The figure does not include the eye-watering salaries offered to lure players primarily from top European leagues. And this is not a one-off splash, according to the league’s chief operating officer, Carlo Nohra.
The Saudi Arabian government has given a commitment to financially back the league until it achieves its goal of becoming one of the top leagues in the world in terms of revenues and quality. The Saudi Pro League aims to compete with the likes of the English Premier League, and La Liga.
How rich are Saudi football clubs?
Overall market value change in all clubs in Saudi Pro League
| # | Value Aug 15, 2023 | Current value |
|---|---|---|
| Total value of all clubs: | €843.05m | |
| 1 | €161.20m | €259.00m |
| 2 | €150.23m | €201.78m |
| 3 | €152.98m | €195.53m |
Which Saudi club has the most fans?
Which Saudi football clubs have the most social media followers? 
Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal FC, one of the top 10 clubs in the Saudi Professional League, has the largest fan base on Twitter with +9 million followers, followed by Ittihad, and then Al Nassr, according to a report by the global social media marketing firm Socialbakers.The report looked at the top 10 clubs in the Saudi Professional League on Twitter, which is the most dominant social platform among football fans in Saudi Arabia. Also See: For companies/ brands that are spending millions on club sponsorships, these data give insights into the actual value of their investment, the report said.The report shows that posting activity is not necessarily what acquires new followers.”Marketers should be aiming not to spam the audience and actually create quality, engaging content instead,” it added. Also Read: When it comes to clubs having the most engaging social media content, Al-Shabab and Al-Ettifaq rank at the top two slots, the report said.Engagement, measured through the number of interactions per 1000 followers, is considered as the most accurate way to evaluate the engagement rate of a Twitter profile, the Socialbakers report added.”Brands can no longer afford taking subjective marketing decisions and need competitive benchmarking to see where they stand,” it further added.
: Which Saudi football clubs have the most social media followers?
How long is Saudi Pro League season?
2023–24 Saudi Pro League
| Season | 2023–24 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 11 August 2023 – 27 May 2024 |
| Matches played | 45 |
| Goals scored | 129 (2.87 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Cristiano Ronaldo (7 goals) |
Does Saudi Pro League play in Champions League?
Saudi Arabia Eyes Bold Move To UEFA Champions League Saudi Arabia is planning on crashing Europe’s top soccer competition in its latest effort to increase its sports presence and relevance. The Saudi Pro League is exploring ways to gain a spot in the UEFA Champions League, to one of the SPL’s top executives.
- The SPL currently competes in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League, where it has four entrants this year.
- While unconventional, the European move wouldn’t be unprecedented.
- UEFA’s membership includes transcontinental countries Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, as well as Israel, Cyprus, and Armenia.
Having its clubs compete in the UCL — widely regarded as the world’s top club tournament — would give further credibility to the SPL, which has already lured stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and with a spending frenzy that has reached into the billions. More top European players could be interested in joining Saudi clubs if they knew there would still be a chance to compete in the UCL.
It could also raise the domestic league’s competition level, whose best teams would be playing for a highly coveted berth. Already, the SPL is expanding its reach internationally — the league has new deals to air this season’s matches on Fox Sports in the U.S. and DAZN in the U.K. However, despite the recent additions, the SPL is still broadly outside of the top 50 soccer leagues in the world.
: Saudi Arabia Eyes Bold Move To UEFA Champions League
Do Saudi teams get Champions League?
No plans to let Saudi Arabian clubs into Champions League, insists ECA chair The European Club Association chairman, Nasser al-Khelaifi, has poured cold water on the notion that Saudi Arabian sides are on course to be granted spots in the revamped, The of the Saudi Pro League have brought suggestions that a place for its champions will be sought in Europe’s leading competition, which will expand next season to a new “Swiss system” of 36 clubs.
Executives from its leading sides are reportedly keen to test the proposition but the influential Khelaifi, who is also the president of Paris Saint-Germain, emphasised no such move is on the horizon. Khelaifi did, however, leave the door open for stand-alone showpieces, with the Uefa Super Cup an obvious candidate, to take place in the gulf state.
“It is very, very difficult,” he said when asked about the prospect of Saudi clubs being admitted to the table. “Today we are trying to let more European clubs participate in European competition. The smaller and medium clubs want that. I don’t see there are other clubs coming from outside to Europe.
- I don’t know what is going to happen in a few years but today I don’t see that anyone from outside will play here.
- If there is a Super Cup or something, why not? But to play in Europe in a competition, if you are not a European I do not see,” Khelaifi backed the, which will involve 12 European sides competing in a 32-club event from 2025, despite concerns about player welfare in a swollen calendar along with an obvious threat to the Champions League’s wealth and prestige.
“I am the first one to protect the players for sure,” he said. “But we want to play a competition that’s worth playing in. The Club World Cup, for me, will be one of the biggest events in the world. “Clubs are investing a lot in players and infrastructure, we deserve also to have good competition like the Club World Cup.
This is amazing, it will be huge. I am a big supporter of the Club World Cup, as are other clubs.” Khelaifi was speaking after the ECA’s general assembly in Berlin, where Saudi clubs’ financial clout and the lack of assurances about came up in discussion behind closed doors. He rejected any idea, though, that European clubs collectively feel an inherent threat from the Saudi wielding of power.
“Most of the clubs sold their players to them so if we are not happy why do we sell our players to them?” he said. “Is it dangerous? If you ask the clubs some of them say yes, some of them say no, some of them happy, some of them unhappy. If there is danger the European clubs will not be quiet.
- So far, I don’t see any danger.” Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties.
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after newsletter promotion Nasser al-Khelaifi has suggested that standalone showpieces like the Uefa Super Cup could be held in Saudi Arabia. Photograph: Isa Harsin/Sipa/Shutterstock Earlier in the day, Khelaifi had told a press conference the ECA need to “focus on Europe, focus on our clubs”.
He was re-elected to his position at a general assembly that also brought Manchester City a place at the continent’s top table. Ferran Soriano, the City chief executive, was voted on to the ECA’s board as the Premier League’s sole representative in a development that will give City a vocal position in the body’s decision-making process.
Among other new appointments were Martina Pavlova of Sparta Prague and the Olympique Lyon Féminin owner, Michele Kang, who were elected to two board seats reserved for female representatives. Pavlova was also made a vice-chair. Josh Wander, the co-founder of the controversial US investment group 777 Partners which owns Standard Liège, Genoa and the French club Red Star – also holding majority stakes in Hertha Berlin, Melbourne Victory and Vasco da Gama – gained a place on the board, representing the Belgian club.
- A general assembly that had been billed as critical for the tone of debate around football’s future was widely hailed a success, even by bodies that have been deeply critical of the ECA.
- That was largely due to the improvement in solidarity payments, announced on Wednesday, for clubs who do not qualify for the group stages of European competitions.
: No plans to let Saudi Arabian clubs into Champions League, insists ECA chair
How many goals Ronaldo scored in Al Nassr?
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 27 goals in 31 matches for Al Nassr since joining the Riyadh-based club, which plays in the Saudi Pro League. (Getty Images) Cristiano Ronaldo is regarded as one of the most prolific goal-scorers in world football and the Portuguese striker has only consolidated his reputation since joining the Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr FC, The Portuguese football player joined Al Nassr in January this year, becoming the world’s highest-paid athlete in the process.
- After his arrival at Saudi Arabia, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal in a friendly against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) while playing for a team featuring players from Al Nassr FC and Al Hilal SFC,
- Cristiano Ronaldo made his Saudi Pro League debut with Al Nassr in a 1-0 win over Al-Ettifaq.
- He notched up his first goal in a draw against Al-Fateh before going on to score his first hat-trick for Al Nassr in a 4-0 win over Al Wehad.
The Portuguese ace scored his second hat-trick for the club in a 3-0 win over Damac. Cristiano Ronaldo won the Saudi Pro League Player of the Month award for February after scoring eight goals and assisting twice. So far, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 21 goals in 21 appearances for Al Nassr FC in the Saudi Pro League.
Who owns Al Hilal?
History – Al-Hilal United FC was founded in 2019 in,, United Arab Emirates, and around February 2020, it was announced that has ownership to the newly established club. The club began their journey through competing in the, the third tier of Emirati football, during the season.
Can you bet on Saudi Pro League?
BetOnline is a veteran of sportsbooks in general, but they were also the first to start offering the best Saudi Pro League bets. You could even place wagers on the next big name to head to the desert.
Is MLS field smaller than FIFA?
Field Dimensions: a tactical survey There are several reasons for ‘s recent run of less than stellar results: key absences ( Josef Martinez especially, of course, Yamil Asad and Jacob Peterson ), long road trips and adverse refereeing decisions. But one in particular came into sharp focus this past weekend against NYCFC – namely, field size.
- The soccer field at Yankee Stadium has come under heavy criticism since the team entered the league in 2015, not least from opposing head coaches for the fact that the cramped playing area significantly alters the way the game is played.
- Teams have taken various steps to counter this huge home field advantage for NYCFC, most notably redrawing the lines on their practice fields during the week ahead of a trip to the Big Apple to match the shortened dimensions.
Whatever the Five Stripes did, it clearly was not enough, as the team looked desperately uncomfortable all game. In short, they were entirely unable to find space. ATLUTD’s attacking strategy is based on the high press, pushing the outside backs as far forward as possible to put defenses under heavy pressure.
But the attacking style, at least our favored attacking style, seems to be to distribute the ball up the middle, especially though Almiron. Going Route 1 has been very successful for us to date. That style depends in part on creating space. If you can draw the defense wide with your fullbacks up high, you leave the center backs exposed in the middle, hopefully with meaningful gaps to exploit.
When those gaps have been there, ATLUTD has jumped into them with brutal efficiency. But if you don’t create that space in the middle, the central attacking midfielder and striker find themselves in a traffic jam. Obviously, on a narrow field, that game plan is much harder to execute.
- Which led me to consider: has this affected our play elsewhere? Most importantly, has it affected our game at Bobby Dodd Stadium? After all, we have lost two of three home games so far.
- The answer? Almost certainly yes.
- Unlike football fields, soccer fields do not have fixed dimensions.
- Instead, there is a range of acceptable widths and lengths.
The ranges allowed under the laws of the Game are very broad, but MLS standards require a size of no less than 110 yards long by 70 yards wide. The optimum size per FIFA is 115×74 (actually, 105m x 68m). United have played at seven stadiums to date. Let’s look at each one of them, and see how things turned out.
TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis. We all know how this one turned out. A 6-1 thumping in the snow. The field is 120×70. It’s narrow, but offsetting that is its extreme length. Consequently, we were able to draw the defense high and get behind them with ease. What’s more, Minnesota had Vadim Demidov in central defense, who was a one-man gap in his own right. CenturyLink Field, Seattle. A 0-0 draw against the MLS champions, but a great game despite the score. Opportunities were created but not converted. ATLUTD had a total of 13 shots on the day, none of which were taken from wider than about 13 yards outside the goalposts, which is to say, from up the middle. The field size: 114×74. BMO Field, Toronto. The field is officially 115×74, the FIFA optimum. The second game of the four-game road trip ended in a 2-2 draw against the MLS Cup runner-up, and a fairly dominant performance for the away team, with Toronto having to do most of the chasing. Stade Saputo, Montreal. Saputo is long and wide at 120×77. The good guys lost the game 2-1, but this was due to the red card issued to Gonzalez Pirez late in the first half, which was later rescinded. United had dominated the game to that point, and absent the ejection likely would have continued to do so. Even so, the winning goal was a late heartbreaker against a side who were probably very tired from covering such a large field. Rio Tinto Stadium, Salt Lake. Well, Sandy, Utah, to be precise. Anyway, a solid 3-1 victory on a field that is again large at 120×75. A full 11-man squad used the space mercilessly. Yankee Stadium, New York. Officially (more on that later), the field is 110×70. The loss is fresh on everyone’s mind and the effects of the field’s tight dimensions were obvious. Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta. I have not been able to find official dimensions for the field anywhere, but looking carefully at game tape, I am guesstimating the size at 111×73. On the small side, in other words. Three games, two losses. And consider that the win against Chicago was for most of the game against ten men, automatically creating space somewhere on the field, the first goal was an own goal, and the second didn’t come until the 60 th minute.
With all that in mind, it seems fair to conclude that Bobby Dodd is not really built for the team’s preferred style. ATLUTD has a home stadium advantage (i.e., us the fans) but a home field handicap. And that handicap won’t go away until we move into the Benz, where the field size will be a healthy and relatively spacious 115×75. 
There is an optional marking on soccer fields intended to assist referees on corner kicks. It is also useful for making quick estimates of field width. The marking is a small hash mark outside the actual playing area. In the shot above, Greg Garza (#4) is helpfully pointing at it with his right hand.
The mark is ten yards from the corner arc, thus making it easier to judge whether defenders are the required ten yards from the kick. So that mark is 11 yards from the actual corner. The penalty area is 44 yards wide (the 8 yards of the goal plus 18 yards on each side). That leaves at least an additional 13 yards on each side to reach the required 70 yards.
Which means that the hash mark must be at least 2 yards outside the penalty area. The mark in the shot looks far closer to the penalty area than that. I would be very surprised if Yankee Stadium is truly up to MLS standards, and it is in reality even more cramped than it ought to be.
Is MLS better than Saudi league?
Final call- Is Saudi Pro League better than MLS? – Just buying better players does not make a league better, at least in the short term. While Saudi Pro League, with its bottomless pit of cash, has the chance of upsetting the world order in football, their current status is just that of a transfer market disruptor. Vatsal Gupta A die-hard Red Devil, who has straight up not had a good time since 2012. Lives on Korean dramas and books and can often be heard talking about armchair psychological stuff.
Why did Messi go to MLS?
LOS ANGELES, June 7 (Reuters) – Lionel Messi on Wednesday announced that he intends to join Major League Soccer side Inter Miami as a free agent after parting ways with French champions Paris St Germain and snubbing a lucrative contract offer in Saudi Arabia.
Messi, who played his final game for PSG over the weekend, was also linked with a return to Barcelona, but the Spanish club have had their hands tied due to LaLiga’s financial fair play rules. “I made the decision that I’m going to go to Miami,” Messi said in an interview with Mundo Deportivo and Sport newspapers.
“I still haven’t closed it 100%. I’m still missing a few things, but we decided to go ahead. If Barcelona didn’t work out, I wanted to leave Europe, get out of the spotlight and think more about my family.” Messi, who led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in December and has earned a record seven Ballon d’Or awards, won the Ligue 1 title in his two seasons with PSG as well as the French Super Cup in 2022.
What is Saudi Pro League?
Saudi Arabia’s top soccer competition has been around for almost half a century, but it has been a universal curiosity among soccer lovers only since the beginning of this year. In January, Cristiano Ronaldo shocked planet fútbol by leaving Europe after almost two decades and signing a contract with Riyadh-based club Al Nassr,
The terms of the Portuguese superstar’s pact were every bit as eye-popping: Ronaldo’s contract was — and still is — the richest in the sport’s long history, a whopping $550 million over two years. Fans all over the globe understandably wanted to watch Ronaldo play with his new team. It was surprisingly difficult.
Games from the Saudi Pro League — officially known as the Roshn Saudi League — were almost impossible to find anywhere. That has changed this season, with the league sealing media rights agreements in scores of countries, including with FOX in the United States and across the Caribbean, in both English and Spanish.
- The 2023-24 campaign begins Friday, when Al Ahli meets Al Hazem (1 p.m.
- ET on FOX Soccer Plus/FOX Deportes/FOX Sports app ).
- Ronaldo is the biggest get by Saudi Arabia, but he’s far from the only one.
- A steady stream of elite players have followed the 38-year-old from some of Europe’s top clubs to the oil-rich gulf state, including Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson and Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez,
What else is there to know about the Saudi league? Answers to some frequently asked questions are below: Why has Saudi Arabia suddenly become a top destination for players? Money — lots of it. Under what the kingdom calls Vision 2030, a government program intended to boost the west Asian nation “socially, culturally and economically,” the Saudis have grand ambitions within sports in general and the world’s most popular one specifically.
Backed by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, clubs have thrown outlandish sums at some of Europe’s best-known pros, offering several multiples of their already bloated salaries. Henderson, for instance, will make about $47 million a year with Al Ettifaq — about four times the amount he earned last season as the Reds captain.
Most of the deals have been for good but not great players, most of them past their prime. That doesn’t mean the league and its clubs haven’t swung for the fences: Al Hilal reportedly was willing to pay Kylian Mbappé a gaudy $776 million for this season alone,
- The club made a serious play for Lionel Messi worth about $1.65 billion before that.
- In both cases, the players declined.
- What’s the league’s history? The Saudi Pro League was formed in 1976 and currently has 18 clubs.
- Four — Al Hilal, Al Nassr, Al Riyadh and Al Shabab — are based in the country’s capital and largest city, Riyadh.
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second biggest metropolis, is home to Al Ahli and AlIttihad. Despite adding Ronaldo midseason, Al Nassr didn’t win the title last season; Al Hilal claimed its record 18th instead. The season runs from August to May, like most major European leagues.
The bottom three clubs in the table are relegated to the second tier at the end of each season, with the top three from that league promoted to the top flight. Who else plays in Saudi Arabia? Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozović joined Ronaldo at Al Nassr, fresh off leading Inter Milan to the 2023 UEFA Champions League final.
So did former Bayern Munich winger Sadio Mané and Alex Telles, a Brazilian international fullback and Ronaldo’s onetime Manchester United teammate. Alongside Mahrez at Al Ahli is ex- Chelsea goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, ex-Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino and another Brazilian national teamer, center back Roger Ibañez,
- N’Golo Kante, a key member of France’s 2018 World Cup winning team, is at Al Ittihad with his countryman Benzema.
- Teams are also targeting lower level stars, such as Armenian international Lucas Zelarayán, who Al-Fateh recently signed away from the Columbus Crew of MLS.
- It’s not just players who have been lured, either; former Tottenham, Porto, Valencia and Wolves manager Nuno Espírito Santo is at Al Ittihad.
Meantime, Henderson will be coached at Al Ettifaq by fellow Liverpool great Steven Gerrard. Which are the top clubs? With twice as many domestic titles as any other team, Al Hilal is the RSL’s most successful club by far. Al Hilal, which has four AFC Champions League crowns, finished second at the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, losing 5-3 in the final to Real Madrid.
- Al Ittihad is easily the best supported Saudi club, drawing an average attendance of more than 40,000 at the 60,000-seat King Fahd Stadium.
- It has the second-most titles, with nine.
- Al Nassr also has nine titles.
- It drew the second most fans last season, around 18,000 per game.
- The league average is less than 10,000.) Just eight clubs have won the championship.
Al Shabab has six titles. Al Ahli has three, Al Ettifaq two, and Al Fateh one. How good is the Saudi league? Ronaldo isn’t exactly impartial, but for what it’s worth he claims the RSL is superior to MLS, That the recent influx of top talent will improve the competition isn’t up for debate.
How much of a boost is, and that remains to be seen. The overwhelming majority of rosters are comprised of local products. Many of those are quality players — all 26 members of the national team that stunned eventual champion Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were contracted to Saudi clubs at the time.
With a growing collection of familiar faces on display, many fans will tune in to see what all the fuss is all about — especially now that they can. Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Cristiano Ronaldo Al-Nassr FC Saudi Pro League FIFA WORLD CUP WOMEN trending Get more from FIFA Women’s World Cup Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Does Saudi Pro League play Champions League?
Saudi Arabia Eyes Bold Move To UEFA Champions League Saudi Arabia is planning on crashing Europe’s top soccer competition in its latest effort to increase its sports presence and relevance. The Saudi Pro League is exploring ways to gain a spot in the UEFA Champions League, to one of the SPL’s top executives.
The SPL currently competes in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League, where it has four entrants this year. While unconventional, the European move wouldn’t be unprecedented. UEFA’s membership includes transcontinental countries Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, as well as Israel, Cyprus, and Armenia.
Having its clubs compete in the UCL — widely regarded as the world’s top club tournament — would give further credibility to the SPL, which has already lured stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and with a spending frenzy that has reached into the billions. More top European players could be interested in joining Saudi clubs if they knew there would still be a chance to compete in the UCL.
- It could also raise the domestic league’s competition level, whose best teams would be playing for a highly coveted berth.
- Already, the SPL is expanding its reach internationally — the league has new deals to air this season’s matches on Fox Sports in the U.S.
- And DAZN in the U.K.
- However, despite the recent additions, the SPL is still broadly outside of the top 50 soccer leagues in the world.
: Saudi Arabia Eyes Bold Move To UEFA Champions League
What level is Hellenic League?
History – The area covered by the Hellenic Football League is coloured in pink. The league was established in 1953. In the 2000–01 season, the Hellenic League absorbed the Chiltonian League, The league now has a Premier Division and Division One as part of the National League System.
The league also runs Division Two East, Division Two West, Division Two North and Division Two South below the National League System. In the 2006–07 season the Hellenic League absorbed the Banbury District and Lord Jersey FA Veterans League with three Divisions now under the Hellenic Veterans League title.
Starting with the 2004–05 re-organisation the Hellenic League became a step 5 and 6 league in the National League System, Premier Division clubs play at Step 5 level, which offers progression to the Southern Football League Division One (Step 4) for Premier Division winners who have the required ground status. Brimscombe & Thrupp Corsham Town Fairford Town Hereford Lads Club Hereford Pegasus Longlevens Lydney Town Mangotsfield United Roman Glass St George Thornbury Town Tuffley Rovers Wantage Town Westfields Royal Wootton Bassett Town Worcester Raiders Cinderford Town Highworth Town Pershore Town Slimbridge Worcester City Map showing the location of teams in the Hellenic Football League Premier Division in 2023–24
How many divisions are there in Saudi football?
Saudi Professional League – 16 clubs. First Division – 20 clubs. Second Division – 28 clubs. Third Division – 32 clubs.
