Al Hilal chief admits Saudi clubs keen to join Champions League
The Riyadh club, employers of Neymar, are one of the biggest clubs in the Middle Eastern nation
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Saudi clubs would relish an invitation to the European Champions League, the chief executive of Al Hilal has said.
The Riyadh club are one of Asia’s big hitters and currently lead the star-studded Saudi Pro League even without their marquee player Neymar, who is returning to full fitness after an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin last year ruled out the possibility of Saudi teams being involved in Europe’s premier competition, but that has not diminished the clubs’ appetite to be involved if the landscape changed in the future.
“I have no idea how possible it is, but I would be foolish to say that I wouldn’t like it,” Al Hilal boss Esteve Calzada said at The Summit, part of Leaders Week London.
“Our aspiration is to put our product in front of as many people as possible, and the European Champions League is the biggest club competition arguably in the world.
“Certainly this is something that I couldn’t say we wouldn’t like. But how realistic would that be, how possible it is, I have no idea, and it’s totally out of my control.”
One competition Al Hilal will definitely play in is the Club World Cup. The 32-team FIFA event has effectively been the catalyst for two legal actions in Europe over the harm leagues fear it will do to them, and to player welfare.
Calzada and Al Hilal view it much more positively, and indeed want more opportunities to play European teams.
“I can understand there’s a preoccupation with the number of matches, but it’s probably the single most important competition of the season for us,” he said.
“It’s a great opportunity to project ourselves to the world, and also to see how our level is against these European teams.
“The more often we can play European teams the better.”
Calzada is a former Barcelona executive, and was unimpressed by recent comments from the Catalan club’s former player and coach Ronald Koeman about Saudi Arabia.
Koeman said he would no longer select Steven Bergwijn for the Netherlands after his move to Al Ittihad, saying: “When you are 26, your main ambition should be sporting, not financial. These are choices that players make.”
Calzada said: “I didn’t like those statements. It’s not fair, and it’s not right. If you look at the players that have come to Saudi, most of them continue to go to with their national teams - (Al Nassr player) Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Neves in our case, Yassine Bounou our keeper.
“That’s why that came a bit out of the blue, and probably out of a lack of knowledge of the value and quality of the league.
“I’m just so sorry for the Dutch players, because it’s clearly an exception.”
PA
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