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1 week ago | 
agbi.com | Simon Chadwick
Opinion Business of Sport The likes of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi are fast becoming more strategic about their commitments Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli football club secured its first-ever Asian Champions League title in May, joining fellow homegrown teams Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad as champions of the continent.
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2 months ago | 
agbi.com | Simon Chadwick
Opinion Business of Sport The Gulf's three big spenders all appear on the soft power list, but might well wish they were higher The governments of Gulf nations are likely to have mixed feelings about a new sport and soft power ranking.
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2 months ago | 
agbi.com | Gavin Gibbon |Simon Chadwick
Opinion Business of Sport Eight franchises could be launched across Europe and sold for a fee of about $500 million each. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect The worldwide expansion of basketball could throw up a surprising head-to-head, pitting the Gulf region’s financial powerhouses against each other.
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Mar 7, 2025 | 
agbi.com | Simon Chadwick
Opinion Business of Sport Saudi Arabia is determined to emerge victorious in the new sporting world order Plans have been formally agreed to create a new boxing league funded by Saudi Arabia.
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Feb 4, 2025 | 
agbi.com | Gavin Gibbon |Simon Chadwick
Mark Pain/Alamy via Reuters Major deals put league on mapFocus on emerging talentHalf of new signings under 23It says much for the evolution of football in Saudi Arabia that the main talking points of the winter transfer-window were of individuals leaving the league rather than multi-million dollar signings.
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Nov 28, 2024 | 
routledge.com | Simon Chadwick |Paul Widdop |Michael Goldman
This book explores continental perspectives on football's new geopolitical economy, examining how sport, politics, and the global economy have emerged in different parts of the world.
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Nov 28, 2024 | 
routledge.com | Simon Chadwick |Paul Widdop |Michael Goldman
This book examines the new geopolitical economy of football, exploring the intersection of money, politics, and power in the world’s most popular sport. Against a background of international conflict and the emergence of powerful new state actors in world sport, the book considers how football investments and events have become instruments of soft power and industrial development, and how football plays an increasingly significant role in global politics and international relations.
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Sep 1, 2024 | 
agbi.com | Valentina Pasquali |Simon Chadwick
Creative Commons/Wikimedia/saudipics One of venues for 2027 Asian CupBeing built by BESIX and Al BawaniRiyadh preparing for 2034 World CupConstruction has started on the Aramco football stadium in Al Khobar, one of the venues for the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia. Belgian construction group BESIX made the announcement on its website over the weekend, saying the goal of delivering the 47,000-seat stadium by 2026 would be “challenging”.
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Aug 1, 2024 | 
agbi.com | Andrew Hammond |Simon Chadwick
Stadium proposed within The LineBid centred on five citiesNo costs or dates confirmedSaudi Arabia plans to build 11 new stadiums as part of its 2034 World Cup bid, including one inside its horizontal city The Line, but without any breakdown of the costs. The Saudi bid – which is expected to win formal Fifa approval this year – centres on five cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, Abha and Neom’s The Line, which will have a stadium on its upper levels at 350 metres high.
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Jul 28, 2024 | 
agbi.com | Simon Chadwick
Yohei Osada/AFLO via Reuters Connect With the Olympic Games now well under way in Paris, the race for medals has started. The US is likely to lead the way. Its total medal haul across the entirety of Summer Games history is rapidly approaching 3,000, of which more than 1,000 have been gold.
