Dwindling attendances in Saudi Pro League raise concerns over 2034 FIFA World Cup leaving behind white elephants | Football News

Saudi Arabia was officially awarded the hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup by FIFA on December 11 in a decision that has been one riddled with controversy before and since the official announcement. While human rights groups like Amnesty International has said that it is a move that “will put many lives at risk”, it is interesting to note that the hosting rights have been awarded just days after the lack of attendance for Saudi Pro League matches came into the spotlight.

The country’s top flight football competition has made headlines in recent years for recruiting some of the biggest names in the sport for exhorbitant amounts of money. Most notable of these are Cristiano Ronaldo, who has stated that he expects the 2034 World Cup to be the ‘best ever’.

While matches involving big clubs like Ronaldo’s Al Nassr tends to draw big crowds, sparse attendances have been a feature when it comes to games between the less high-profile teams.

A recent example is the match between Al-Wehda, for whom ex-Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo plays, and Al Okhdood which was watched by just 405 people. Another example ios the match between Al Fayha and Al Riyadh which saw a paltry sum of 390 supporters attend the match in October. Al Fahya is the new home of former Manchester United and AS Roma defender Chris Smalling, as well as former Rangers winger Fashion Sakala, who was on the scoresheet in this match.

The fact remains that attendance for a World Cup will always be different to that of league matches between domestic clubs. There will be a huge influx of fans from around the world and matches in any football World Cup tend to feature significant support for all teams. However, the danger is of these stadiums ending up becoming white elephants in the years that will follow the tournament, which in turn raises questions on the overall sustainability of the event.

Average attendances well below par

The largest club stadium in Saudi Arabia is the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Jeddah, with a capacity of 62,000, shared by Al Ahli and Al Ettihad. According to Transfermarkt both teams struggled to put up the numbers in the large stadium, averaging roughly 17,000 and 24,000 respectively last season.

The Pro League’s average attendance accorss all clubs last season was 9000. This is much lesser than attendances for even the third division leagues in England (9,500 for the EFL League One) and Germany (9,200 for the 3. Liga).

The kingdom will be upgrading as many as 15 stadiums for the World Cup plus hotels and transport networks ahead of the 104-game tournament. One of the stadiums is planned to be 350 meters (yards) above the ground in Neom — a futuristic city that does not yet exist — and another named for the crown prince is designed to be atop a 200-meter cliff near Riyadh.