Takeover of Manchester United: the denial of interest by Saudi Arabia is in line with its current sport policy – but this policy could evolve

Monday's morning caused a strong cold-water spill in a story that angered Manchester United fans, although it sounds like a story that has a long way to go.

From the frying pan of the controversial property of the Glazer family to the potential fire taken by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the takeover of the world's largest football club would have been monumental, not only in sporting terms, but also in as a geopolitical history A story that would certainly have provoked protests going well beyond the green and golden scarves of the beginnings of Glazer.

In a nutshell, Saudi media minister Turki Al-Shabanah put aside the kingdom and speculated about a takeover of the Old Trafford club by a few tweets of choice on Monday morning.

"The information claiming that HRH Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman intends to buy Man United are completely false," Al-Shabanah tweeted from a verified account, related to his position at within the government. This would seem like a formal refusal, even though Saudi Arabia does not have the best track record of recent times, having also denied committing the murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi until all the irrefutable evidence is piling up. led to blame "undesirable elements". for torture, murder and alleged dismemberment allegedly taking place within the Saudi Arabian consulate.

Al-Shabanah tweeted that United had arranged a meeting with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund "to discuss the sponsorship opportunity", but that no agreement has materialized. So there was at least a small fire from which this smoke emerged, and even if doubting the substance of a Saudi denial, it must be recognized that the redemption of a club Premier League does not necessarily fit with the kingdom's policy on sports investment.

Indeed, their strategy over the past decade has focused on strengthening national sport while the neighbors have fully invested abroad.

Investments have increased in the Saudi football league and the major clubs, which today attract a considerable crowd, have been privatized in the hope of one day competing with the best European players – perhaps in a lucrative environment well funded by the World League. Like rival Qatar in the region, Saudi Arabia has built a sports and entertainment city that is one of the world's largest dedicated development and leisure projects of its kind. It is hoped that this city, Qiddiya, will be able to organize a number of sports events in the future. The existing Saudi sports policy will focus more on organizing major sports competitions in the kingdom rather than investing billions of dollars in a Premier League football club. support.

In December, Formula E organized a race at Ad Diriyah. Saudi Arabia was one of the most environmentally friendly and fastest growing sports. Wayne Rooney was one of the celebrities, and influential figures paid large sums to visit the kingdom, drawing attention to the fact that they were organizing the event. . WWE also signed a long-term deal to hold events in Saudi, while the World Boxing Super Series recently hit the ground in Jeddah with Callum Smith defeating George Groves in a 100% cash-only title fight. The Italian Super Cup between AC Milan and Juventus, two of the world's best known football clubs, has also been held in Jeddah. More events will almost certainly follow.

It is these initiatives that have summarized Saudi Arabia's approach to investing in sport, rather than producing global repercussions by taking over one of the biggest football clubs in Europe or – imagine it – in a big sports team of the United States.

This is not to say that this could not happen in the future, and wealthy individuals in Saudi Arabia have explored the possibility of buying Premier League clubs, including throwing their tires for Newcastle United last year.

A source who has worked in the field of sports policy in Saudi Arabia issued a warning that "when MBS [Mohammed bin Salman] is involved, all bets are off. "

And this testifies to the changing dynamics of power in the oil-rich kingdom.

It may not be a policy at the moment, but it may change by whim nowadays. The crown prince has unlocked huge sums on foreign property badets and is not afraid to invest abroad, which means that a possible agreement for a club of football would simply be a change of course, an "evolution" of the existing policy. than to cross red lines.

Notably, this change of tactics is no longer out of the question now that power in Saudi Arabia has been rapidly centralized by bin Salman since 2017.

"Saudi Arabian power is very politically complex and, many years after the takeover of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, the idea of ​​a Saudi equivalent was much less likely," says Nicholas McGeehan, academic and researcher on the Middle East.

"Saudi has always been a little late, but it can be said that the power was very decentralized, although the capture of the internal power of Mohammed bin Salman has somewhat corrected this problem.

"A smaller ruling elite in Abu Dhabi and Qatar means that this has always been a possibility for them – the rise to power of MBS could – potentially – change that."

Although Manchester City remains United's hated rival in the club, McGeehan believes that the Eastlands club's success in a hard-hitting global mark will not go unnoticed by the Saudi Crown Prince, who is counting on a close relationship with the Crown Prince of Japan. Abu Dhabi. .

"Mohammed bin Zayed has been a mentor to him," says McGeehan. "It would not surprise me then if he had examined Abu Dhabi's success with Manchester City and wondered if he could do anything similar, especially with regard to reputation.

"Clearly, Saudi Arabia is currently experiencing much bigger reputation problems."

And that's where the crux of the matter lies. Although the interest in a takeover has been denied and the concept of repurchase does not correspond to the current sports investment policy in the kingdom, the evolution of power dynamics in Arabia Arabia and Mohammed bin Salman's influence and relations mean that there is no proposal that: can be completely ruled out.

The joy that United's fans would be at the prospect of a Saudi takeover is an additional argument, which goes well beyond the moving elements of Middle Eastern geopolitics. However, it is possible that these fans need a conversation at a given moment, in case the smoke from the existing fire spreads further into the sky. For some, these fumes will always be too toxic.

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