Al-Ittihad sporting director says PIF's priority is not Newcastle United in bizarre statement
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is the majority owner of Newcastle United, having taken over the club in 2021, but since that takeover, it has invested heavily in football in its own country.
The PIF backed several Saudi Pro League clubs while also funnelling money into the sport as a whole to try to get football to become more popular. The Saudi Pro League has become like the Japanese League, Chinese League and MLS have been in the past: A place for ageing players to go for one last bumper pay day before they hang up their boots.
Many Newcastle fans were concerned seeing the PIF splitting focus like that, but at the end of the day, they are involved in thousands of businesses. It's not a concern.
However, the sporting director of one of the PIF-backed Saudi clubs, Al-Ittihad, has issued a controversial statement that is sure to ruffle some feathers on Tyneside.
Ramon Planes has suggested that the PIF are more concerned with the Saudi Pro League than Newcastle United
Speaking to Spanish outlet La Provincia, Al-Ittihad chief Ramon Planes has perhaps gone a bit too far in his mission to hype up the Saudi Pro League with this statement.
“Unlike other countries, with all due respect, here we have a phenomenal fanbase, an incredible passion for football. Just think, we’re the country in the region that has played in the World Cup the most times. When we play important league matches, against the big teams, we pack 58,000 people into the stadium, with spectacular displays. In the same stadium where Barça and Athletic played with 50,000 fans in the stands, we attract more,” he said.
“And the Saudis know their football. The other day, in the semi-final, Pedri left the field and received a standing ovation, even though he didn’t score any of the five goals, but they knew how to recognise the fantastic game he played.
“Saudi Arabia’s ultimate goal, beyond any other projects they might have, like Newcastle United, is to make the Saudi league one of the top five in the world, and that’s done by signing top players. You watch a big match now and there are 16 internationals on the pitch.”
Ramon Planes has a career in politics if the football thing falls through
We get that he's got to try and sell it a bit, but here sounds like a dictator bragging about the might of his army. We've seen plenty of videos from the Saudi Pro League, and we've seen bigger crowds at Sunday League games.
You can big up the numbers of fans for your 'important' league games, sure, but you can't say you attract bigger crowds than Barcelona in your own country. That's not an achievement, that's just how it should be.
So when it comes to his statement about Newcastle being a lesser priority, we'll take that with a pinch of salt too.
