Saudi Arabia has already forayed into F1 and golf.
Saudi Arabian government has been actively investing in multiple sports, having made inroads into Formula 1 with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as well as the LIV Golf.
Now the focus has shifted to cricket and the Saudi government plans to set up the richest T20 league in the world and approached the IPL owners regarding the same, after becoming one of the sponsors of the IPL 2023.
Not only this, the proposal of the Saudi Arabian government is said to be enticing enough that BCCI might even consider mending their rules of contracted Indian players not playing in any other T20 leagues in the world, apart from the IPL.
According to a report in The Age, talks regarding the Saudi Arabian league have been underway for nearly a year now, and any potential league formed in the Gulf would have to be sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the member countries, including Australia.
This is due to the criticism of the Gulf state for trying to whitewash their human rights record via their investment in sports.
ICC Chairman Greg Barclay confirmed that Saudi Arabia is looking to invest heavily in cricket, after pumping funds into others sports like football and F1.
“If you look at other sports they’ve been involved in, cricket is something I imagine would be attractive to them. Given their advance into the sport more generally, cricket would work quite well for Saudi Arabia. They’re pretty keen to invest in sport, and given their regional presence, cricket would seem a pretty obvious one to pursue,” he had said.
The report also adds that Saudi Arabia is looking to strengthen its relationships with India through cricket, and the former hopes to become the number 1 tourist destination for Indians by the year 2030.
Currently, the United Arab Emirates has been the preferred nation for India to host matches as it hosted the IPL 2020 and part of the IPL 2021 in Sharjah, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi during the Covid pandemic.
UAE also launched its own T20 league last year, the ILT20 with many IPL owners becoming stakeholders in the same.
Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation chairman Prince Saud bin Mishal Al-Saud hopes to Saudi can become a ‘global cricket destination’ in the upcoming years.
(News18/The Age inputs)