It seems to me the SPL has become a manifestly significant force in global football -- and hence, worthy of a dedicated thread. (Mods, if I'm wrong, will delete this.) By this point its clear that Saudi teams can and in some cases will be luring some of the sport's top talent to their ranks, which now include Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Firmino, Henderson. And of course a Saudi team has been actively, aggressively courting Salah. (Full disclosure: I'm a Liverpool fan.) So in part this thread invites "meta" discussion (not necessarily involving a specific transfer or player) of the phenomenon of talent migration from league to league and (now) region to region, as some of the best individual players in the world migrate to Asian professional pitches.
The subject quickly and perhaps inevitably becomes "political" as well as athletic, given the Kingdom's policies on human rights, and particularly its anti-LGBTQ policies. The recent fire that Jordan Henderson has taken for (apparently) putting his LGBTQ advocacy on hold out of "respect" for Saudi religious and cultural beliefs, for example, merits comment and conversation, begging the question... well, begging a lot of questions, really, all worth discussing here, I'd propose.
Edit: Here's some basic BBC coverage of Henderson's recent reaction to criticism.
More broadly, the topic invites further discussion (already ongoing) of the financial impact of petro-dollars/global economic oligarchy on football. Saudi sovereign funds comprise majority shareholding of 4 Saudi teams that I know of.
But I do not mean for this thread (my thread title notwithstanding), if it gains traction, to limit itself to the "political" dimensions of the topic. On a more focused "football" plane of discussion, the league now holds some of the best players in the world. I confess I do not watch SPL games. How good is the football, with quality players now participating?
The subject quickly and perhaps inevitably becomes "political" as well as athletic, given the Kingdom's policies on human rights, and particularly its anti-LGBTQ policies. The recent fire that Jordan Henderson has taken for (apparently) putting his LGBTQ advocacy on hold out of "respect" for Saudi religious and cultural beliefs, for example, merits comment and conversation, begging the question... well, begging a lot of questions, really, all worth discussing here, I'd propose.
Edit: Here's some basic BBC coverage of Henderson's recent reaction to criticism.
More broadly, the topic invites further discussion (already ongoing) of the financial impact of petro-dollars/global economic oligarchy on football. Saudi sovereign funds comprise majority shareholding of 4 Saudi teams that I know of.
But I do not mean for this thread (my thread title notwithstanding), if it gains traction, to limit itself to the "political" dimensions of the topic. On a more focused "football" plane of discussion, the league now holds some of the best players in the world. I confess I do not watch SPL games. How good is the football, with quality players now participating?