During a press conference, Saudi Minister of Sport Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal announced that four clubs were being converted into companies, having ownership transferred to development agencies.
He said Al-Qadisiyah Club was to be transferred to Saudi Aramco, Diraiyah Club to the Diriyah Gate Development Authority, AlUla Club to the Royal Commission for AlUla, and the Suqoor Club to NEOM.
The prince also revealed that the Saudi Public Investment Fund would be investing in Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Ahli and that the clubs would be converted into companies owned by the fund, and a non-profit institution for each club.
“Accordingly, an investment fund will be established for each of the eight club companies whose ownership has been transferred, and the value of the club will be deposited in the investment fund in exchange for the ownership transfer,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Public Investment Fund said that it will own 75 percent of the four clubs. “We will work on developing the four clubs financially and administratively,” the fund said in a statement carried out by Al-Ekhbariyah TV.
Speaking to Arab News, Al-Faisal said: “Let me start off with sending my greatest gratitude to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (for) their continuous support to the sports sector within the Kingdom… under the leadership of the crown prince and the ambitious plan within the Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia.
“There are a lot of programs and developments for each sector, and the sports sector is one of these sectors of the vision to fulfill these KPIs and these ambitious goals that we wish to achieve by 2030.
“Today, we see a big milestone within the sports sector that the ownership of the clubs has been transferred to a lot of different entities. These entities are some of the biggest entities within Saudi Arabia (not only) from a commercial value, but also these entities have a lot of developmental programs within the sports sector to develop youth and sports within their territory and so on.
He added: “By the end of 2023, we will also offer a number of clubs to be sold to the private sector, and I hope that this will invite more (companies) from the private sector to invest in these clubs and invest in the sports sector within the Kingdom.”