Saudi trying to buy their way into champions league. When they have to abide by FFP rules and have nothing more to offer players than European clubs do, players won't be so quick to jump on the Saudi bandwagon.
eiropean clubs fans are mad at Saudi clubs buying players but they are ok with big euro clubs spending cash.
They have no problem with their own euro clubs being financially backed by camel ers either
Saudi trying to buy their way into champions league. When they have to abide by FFP rules and have nothing more to offer players than European clubs do, players won't be so quick to jump on the Saudi bandwagon.
Saudis have a bid for the 2034 World Cup, that's the main reason they're spending bottomless dollars to appear they give a about football.
We'll see if they keep at it after that's decided.
FFP rules aren’t even bring enforced
Interesting point tbh
So which city in Saudi Arabia do you follow closely?
Describe their fan base and teams of the past you really appreciated.
lol …. leftman cmon. They all throw money at teams, but who actually have FANS?
You like Real Madrid for why left man? Be serious here.
*Man City fans have entered the chat*
Newcastle fans applaud…
How's that different from European football?
Remember when it was trendy to say that Ronaldo was a big game player and Messi was a small team stat padder? Good times
FANS...
Are you fkn serious.
Newcastle fans have been around for a very long time and the injection of money has been a huge deal for their rise.
A poorer NE England team with a load of fans for a very long time.
How is it different.... are you serious?
The money is an entirely different argument which I totally agree with.
Read my posts! What city team do you root for in Saudi Arabia?
You know their colors and traditions...
What Saudi team are you rooting for and what do you like about the city, fans, and their players?
I wish Sunderland could get some money as no one it FIFA are willing to stop with the dirty sources. Sunderland next for a handup of dirty money.
I should note that out of all the Euro teams, Germany seems the most willingly to solve the blood money problem in soccer ownership.
England is very willing to take the bucks. Big problem they deal with. England cant even solve some of their rich ins utions still getting Russian money during a war.
Spain and Italy are very bad about it as well.
How are fans different in Europe and Saudi Arabia?
Fans are fans everywhere and nobody has the right to judge the level of fandom, passion or loyalty.
Regarding which team I'm rooting for in Saudi Arabia, the same as in Europe: no one.
Good lord…
They are different because they exist in Europe.
Have you ever actually been to a game and sat in a seat?
Of course I have the right to judge. You make the rules on this board? This is in your face obvious.
It’s a fabricated league from oil money. You think there are millions of fans in cities around Saudi Arabia clamoring for a team in their city? Seriously? You think there is an actual huge market for teams created by the passion for soccer via millions of Saudis around their country?
Do you see other teams in 8 deep lower divisions some of which are registered with FIFA but contain no pros and some of which are semi pros. Do you see working men and women playing every weekend in these leagues FOR their own little town’s team? With neighbors and friends attending the games just because it’s people they know in their little town?
The Saudi league is NOTHING like the European leagues from a fan perspective nor a cultural perspective. Zero…
Now should I post a laughing emoji… Christ Almighty…
Leagues are built in a few main ways:
1) Bottom up (organically), with a genuine fan and players base, where the product is an accurate representation of their resources and it's sustainable long term. Probably European and South American leagues a few decades ago.
2) Top down (artificially), without a genuine fan and players base. where the product doesn't represent their resources and is dependent on a continual influx of external money. Clearly the Saudis case.
3) A mixed approach, where there is a real fan and player base, but the product is heavily influenced by external factors that may not be sustainable long term. Probably most European leagues nowadays, to varying degrees.
In this spectrum, I'd say the German league is a more genuine product, whereas the English league is undeniably distorted by the huge influx of external money (oil money from Saudis and the like, Asian tycoons from China, Russia or wherever). There is a real fan base, sure, but without all this money being thrown around they'd have nowhere near the amount of talent they currently have. The floor is much higher for the English, but there's a bubble there as well that can't be denied.
There was a time European footy fans didn’t exist
Same thing in Saudi Arabia…they will be a legit footy fandom overtime like the Europeans have in the past
Footy fandom is not exclusive to a few continents and the sport doesn’t belong to them
Thinking otherwise is arrogant
What a weird ass take, tbh.
Nobody is more passionate than fans in Southamerica, yet when Europe took all the best players from us nobody complained, tbh.
The Saudi league has been around for almost 2 decades before the Premier League. Most of it's teams are historied clubs with lots of years of existence, and people became fans of those clubs way before this new infussion of money. You aren't a better fan than an Al-Hilal supporter. Stop with your elitist bull .
I never said any country owned the sport. Thats called a straw man argument.
The game was invented in England, same with cricket. Is it some sort of strange argument to say that soccer has not caught on with fans in India while cricket has?
Soccer is not a big sport in India either. Right? Basketball is not ingrained and as popular in India either but it might catch on, someday...
I said European leagues have huge fan bases right now.
When the weather changes, and grass is everywhere with white balls getting kicked around in little Saudi Arabian towns across the country, then we can talk about the fan base.
Otherwise its just not comparable.
this is a silly argument.
Last edited by pgardn; 08-27-2023 at 05:21 PM.
Stop trying to compare the fan bases.
This is an absolutely silly argument.
Elitist bull ? WTF? Saudi has all the money to make this happen. In Europe.
I did not say I was a "better" fan than a Hilal or whatever the fk you want to use. Better was NEVER used. Dont change the argument.
I said the European fan base is huge and culturally ingrained.
Horse racing is more culturally ingrained in Saudi Arabia than soccer. Its a silly argument in the present.
Soccer is also much more popular and culturally ingrained in South America as well.
Is this some sort of big Surprise? Should US citizens feel slighted because soccer is NOT a major sport. NO. Stop with the bull .
This is crazy.
Honestly weird to not see the obvious.
This is funny. Some of this is from the same people who said Beisbol in not a legitimate sport.
And then claim I am being elitist... So because baseball is not popular in Europe I am making an elitist statement...about a ty sport as claimed by some soccer fans.
And I wont mention that Baseball is very popular in Central America and parts of Asia. Japan, Korea.... This would be tragic and prejudice.
Just imagine if Saudi tried to invent a golf league in their own country just using money? oh ...
Only when they started spending money to buy the best players from all around the World. Exactly the same Saudi is doing now. If somewhere down the road the Saudi league becomes the most powerful league in the World, you will see it's teams become very popular, with huge fanbases all around the globe.
You are crying for the same that Europe did back in the day. How do you not realize that?
From what I’ve seen so far, their fans are awesome, great atmosphere in their stadiums, they are legit enjoying football tbh
Its absolutely NOT exactly the same.
Europe had a ton of money AND a huge fan base. Ingrained from the 1880s England where soccer started as a company sport until, unsurprisingly, it got so popular the companies started buying players from around EUROPE because it spread all over Europe. Then it spread in popularity to South America.
Saudi Arabia has a TINY population that you think is going to replace the crowds you see at European games?
Thats is mind numbingly stupid. Its fabricated. In Europe it grew through POPULARITY among a LARGE population.
And now I get where you are coming from. Poor South America got its players taken.
I got a solution for you. South America could have a ton of games that would be very popular with massive crowds.
Why not get Saudi to by South American club teams? Where there is a waiting hungry population?
Last edited by pgardn; 08-27-2023 at 08:36 PM.
Fine. It still does not make Saudi Arabia like Europe or South America.
So a select number of rich guys get to sit in the box seats enjoying their games.
While in South America....
Every Saudi born citizen has a job given to them and some dont even work and are just paid by the government.
Yet DAF is working the South America angle... a bit of hypocrisy going on here.
Why cant Estonia enjoy the same thing as the Saudi's? Its not fair
Bottom line: Saudi Arabia has a tiny population that is very rich and taking players like Mahrez who dont want to play top flight soccer, just want to get paid. Thats okay.
But its their own little aquarium and you understand this.
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