The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recently hosted the IPL 2025 Auction. The auction was held in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. After the success, there were speculations of the Kingdom launching the richest cricket league in the world.
His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Mishaal Al Saud, chairman of the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation (SACF), recently responded to all the speculations and clarified this issue. He was present in the IPL 2025 Auction, which took place for two days, on November 24 and 25.
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SACF Chairman responds to Saudi Arabia hosting richest cricket league
While speaking on the sidelines of the IPL 2025 Auction in Jeddah, Prince Saud bin Mishaal Al Saud denied any speculations of starting the richest cricket league in the world. He also denied any reports of investing in the IPL in the near future.
“That is not correct,” he denied of the reports to start the richest cricket league. “That is not true as well,” he said when asked about investing in the Indian Premier League, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
IPL is easily the richest and the biggest cricket league in the world. It is rated among the biggest tournaments in sports globally. Due to its incredible oil wealth, the Sheikhs in the country were planning to launch a cricket league that would have featured some of the top international stars. according to a report.
The country has already invested loads of wealth in the game of football and has signed some of the biggest football names to play in their league. Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Neymar, and Sadio Mane are some of the biggest names to play in the Saudi Pro League in football.
Companies like Aramco and Saudi Tourism have already invested in cricket in the last few years. Aramco, which is one of the largest oil production companies in terms of production and revenue, has even been an associate sponsor of IPL before.
Saudi Tourism too has made waves and has been associated with the IPL for the last couple of years. Recently, the BCCI passed a resolution in its AGM in Bengaluru to prevent private investment in the country’s board and its leagues. The resolution is mainly aimed at reducing future investments from Saudi Arabian companies.
Will Saudi Arabia host the IPL in the near future?
While the prince denied any scope for investment in the tournament, he was positive about hosting a few IPL matches in the upcoming future. He thanked the Saudi government and Jay Shah for giving them the opportunity to host the IPL 2025 Auction.
“The IPL auction is a major first step. It will help us fast-track some of our plans. Hosting it would not have been possible without the big support from the Saudi Government and Mr. Jay Shah (the BCCI secretary),” he added.
The SACF also aims to build a world-class cricket stadium in the near future, which will help cricket grow in the country. Cricket is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and the kingdom has its eyes firmly on it.
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