La Liga have announced an agreement with Saudi Arabia for ‘Visit Saudi’ to become the league’s new global sponsor.
The league, which changed name to La Liga EA Sports this summer two, has revealed a partnership deal with the Saudi Arabian tourist board. It is not yet clear how long the deal will last, nor how much money the league will make from it.
Ambassador Iker Casillas said that the deal would help continue to ‘develop connections and alliances’ with the Arab world, while CEO Oscar Mayo claimed it showed their ‘clear and firm commitment’ to developing football in Saudi Arabia and there, as well as inspiring the next generation of footballers.
Associations and innovative collaborations are also mentioned as part of the deal, but it is not yet clear what these are. Visit Saudi hope this help them achieve their goal of making Saudi Arabia ‘the most attractive destination all year round’.
La Liga confirms Visit Saudi as its new global sponsor. Quite a U-turn from league president Javier Tebas, who previously said Saudi Arabia was using sports to "whitewash their image and we have a responsibility there…We should not forget what happened with Jamal Khashoggi." pic.twitter.com/2P5NN7rtfs
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) August 17, 2023
Some have wondered out loud about La Liga President Javier Tebas‘ involvement in the matter. Tebas has been a vociferous critic of the involvement of petro-states in football, in particular submitting financial fair play complaints about Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain to UEFA. He has also poured scorn on the Spanish Football Federation’s deal with Saudi Arabia to take Spanish Supercup games there.
Just this week he praised Sevilla in the European Supercup in a backhanded critique of Manchester City’s spending. Now though, it appears he has little issue with taking the money from Saudi Arabia for La Liga, and encouraging fans to visit a country where they may be stoned to death for their sexuality or being raped.
