Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The wealth of Saudi Arabia’s soccer teams is changing the landscape of Asian football, a Nikkei article by Asian football specialist John Duerden says.

The most successful clubs in the AFC Champions League have come from Japan and South Korea, but since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) took control of the Kingdom’s four biggest clubs in 2023, Japanese and Korean clubs have found themselves outgunned financially. They are also restricted by tighter foreign-player rules, forcing them to face hard choices about whether to preserve their focus on homegrown player development or join the costly player market.

Saudi’s big four clubs have spent $1.5 billion on transfer fees compared to just $30 million and $45 million spent by South Korean and Japanese clubs in the same period. Internationally, only the English Premier League has outspent its Saudi counterpart in the past two years.

Saudi Arabia’s three clubs in the AFC Champions League are strongly favored to repeat their domination of last season’s edition of Asia’s premier club competition. With lineups full of foreign talent, all three of Saudi Arabia’s clubs in the Asian Champions League reached the semifinals of the 2024-25 edition, with Al Ahli of Jeddah lifting the trophy, defeating Kawasaki Frontale of Japan.

While there is no limit on the number of foreign players that can play in Asian competitions, Korea’s domestic K League allows only four to play at a time, one fewer than Japan and six fewer than the Saudi Pro League.

“I absolutely think we have to loosen our foreign player quotas if we want to give any meaning to even playing in the AFC Champions League,” Shin Tae-yong, coach of two-time Asian champion Ulsan HD, was quoted as saying.

However, Duerden points out there can be consequences in breaking barriers in terms of transfer spending and foreign-player limits. South Korea and Japan are Asia’s two most successful World Cup nations and, earlier this year, qualified smoothly for an 11th and eighth successive appearance, respectively. The Saudi Arabian national team, however, failed to qualify automatically, finishing 10 points behind Japan, who scored 23 more goals. Few Saudi strikers are regular starters for their clubs.

Roberto Mancini, Saudi Arabia head coach from August 2023 to October 2024, summed up the situation: “We have too many foreigners in the league, and, because of that, I have 20 of my players sitting on the benches of their teams.”