Football - Saudi Pro League: 5 things you need to know

The Saudi Pro League has started a revolution in world soccer. Once seen as an exotic league, and even as a golden retirement for some players of international stature. The change came with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was granted an exceptional contract. Since then, the bleeding in European leagues has continued in favor of the qualifying development of the Saudi league.

Players in the prime of their careers, major players from the world's biggest clubs and national team stalwarts have all chosen to play in the Saudi Pro League. Karim Benzema, Serguej Milinković-Savić, Marcelo Brozovic, Ever Banega, Franck Kessié, Roberto Firminho, Seko Fofana to name but a few are some of the faces of this developing league. Neymar has been announced for the near future, while Osimhen and Salah are currently resisting the siren calls of the kingdom, despite their insane contracts. All of which is to say that this league is hard to compete with in terms of contracts on offer and salaries.

Career plans are no match for the financial manna at stake. The championship is currently attracting a great deal of interest worldwide, as evidenced by the TV rights acquired in Europe, the USA, etc., by the world's biggest channels. SNA's editorial team would like to tell its readers 5 things they need to know about this championship.

Number of teams in the Saudi Pro League

There are 18 teams in the Saudi Pro League this season. That's 2 more clubs than last season. These are: Al Feiha, Al-Ahli SC, Al Tai, Al Riyad SC, Al Taawon FC, Al-Fateh SC, Al Ittihad FC, Al Nasr FC, Al Hilal Saudi FC, Al-Shabab FC, Al Ittifaq FC, Al-Raed Club, Club Abha, Al-Akhdoud, Club Damak, Al-Wehda FC, Al-Khaleej Club, Al-Hazm.

The top 3 teams in the league qualify each year for the AFC Champions League. The King Cup winner also qualifies. If the latter is among the top 3, 4th place qualifies for the play-offs. In the league, there are 3 descents to the 2nd division and 3 ascents to the top flight. Although last year there were 2 relegations and 4 promotions.

In the event of a tie, direct confrontation is preferred to goal-average.
The championship consists of 34 matches.

Al Hilal is the most successful club with 18 championships, the last of which dates back to the 2021-2022 season. It also holds the record for most Champions League wins (4). Al Ittihad won the last championship (2022-2023). It has 2 Champions League titles to its name.

The Saudi Pro League kicked off its first day of the 2023-2024 season on Friday August 11 and the stars have already shone, notably Firmino with a hat-trick.

Club rules

Clubs must include 8 local players who have graduated from the country's academies in their main list of 25 players. Four of these 8 players must be direct graduates of the club's Academy. Clubs may not exceed the limit of 8 foreign players per club. The Saudi Pro League has changed the eligibility age for Saudi players from 18 to 16.

Favourites at season's start

The league's Big Four consists of Al-Nasrr, Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad. These clubs have a number of advantages over their rivals. They receive funding from the PIF (Public Investment Fund), Saudi Arabia's gigantic sovereign wealth fund.These teams are 75% owned by the PIF and non-profit foundations. This gives them unlimited financial resources. As illustrated by their transfer names compared to other teams.

The PIF plays a key role in the kingdom's strategy to develop and diversify its oil-dependent economy. It also aims to organize the World Cup by 2030-2034, through the regime's "Vision 2030". A strategy modelled on that adopted by Qatar.

Big players, including Africans, in Big Four clubs

At Al Ittihad, the great players who make up the team are :Karim Benzema, Fabinho, Ngolo Kanté, Diego Jota. At Al Hilal, Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal), Ruben Neves, Milinković-Savić, Moussa Marega (Mali) and Malcom spearhead the team.

For Al Nasrr, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alex Telles, Séko Fofana (Côte d'Ivoire), Marcelo Brozovic and Sadio Mané (Senegal) are the key players.

Sadio Mané 🇸🇳 x 🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo 🥰

🎥 @Nfcdiario pic.twitter.com/SL0RDTBosq

— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) August 12, 2023

For Al Ahli, the headliners are : Edouard Mendy (Senegal), Roger Ibanez, Ryad Boudebouz (Algeria), Franck Kessié (Côte d'Ivoire), Ryad Mahrez (Algeria), Roberto Firmino, Alain Saint-Maximin.

Other big names who have proved their worth in Europe are scattered around other clubs. Among them are a number of African internationals. They include Jason Denayer, Habib Diallo (Senegal) and Ever Banega, who play for Al Shabab.Moussa Dembele, Jordan Henderson and Marcel Tisserand (Congo) at Al-Ettifaq. Sakala Junior (Zambia) and Henry Chukwuemeka Onyekuru (Nigeria) to Al Fayha. Biyogo Poko (Gabon) to Al Wehda and Francois Kamano (Guinea) to Abah Club.

The Saudi Pro League, a successful league for African strikers

Over the last 5 seasons, the top scorer title has been won 4 times by an African. Abderrazak Hamdallah finished top scorer in 2022-2023 with 21 goals. Odion Ighalo was top scorer in 2021-2022 with 24 goals. The previous year, Batefimbi Gomis (24 goals) was the best goleador. In 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 Hamdallah, then in the colors of Al Nassr, had also finished top scorer. They scored 34 and 29 goals respectively.