Sports Clubs in Saudi Arabia

Sports clubs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are sports institutions dedicated to the practice of a variety of sports in the Kingdom. There are a total of 170 sports clubs in the Kingdom, all of which are supervised and regulated by the Ministry of Sport (MoS).

Football is the most popular sport in the Kingdom, with its matches and tournaments regularly taking place. These include the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup, which is the oldest annual local football championship in the Kingdom, the Saudi Pro League (Roshn Saudi League), and the First Division League (Yelo League), in addition to the second, third, and fourth division leagues, and youth category championships.

In line with the evolution of sport in the Kingdom, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation launched the inaugural edition of the Saudi Women's Premier League in 2021. This league features the participation of sixteen teams, with matches being held in three cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam. Each region is represented by six teams, except for Dammam, which has four teams. The league operates on a two-tier round-robin system, as part of the timeline established by the federation within the framework of its program to support women's football since 2017.

Throughout the history of Saudi sports, the number of clubs has seen a clear increase. With the first five-year plan of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare, the former General Sports Authority, and currently MoS, the recognized number of sports clubs in the Kingdom reached fifty-four clubs.

When competitions were first organized, eight clubs participated in the early stages of the Saudi league in 1976. A year later, this number increased to ten clubs and maintained this count until 1984 when relegation was canceled for that season, leading the number of clubs to reach twelve. The number of clubs in the Saudi Pro League remained unchanged for twenty-six years, lasting until 2010 when relegation was canceled for that season.

Efforts to develop the league system persisted until, in 2019, the number of Saudi teams in the pro league was expanded to sixteen clubs. The first division league was renamed the Yelo League First Division, and the inclusion of seven foreign players in the league competition was approved.

In 2023, the number of clubs in the Saudi Pro League, now called the Roshn League, has increased to include eighteen clubs following the promotion of four clubs from the Yelo League First Division to join the pro league, while only two clubs were relegated to the Yelo League.

The number of sports clubs in the Kingdom has reached 170 clubs in 2023, distributed as follows: eighteen clubs in the pro league, eighteen clubs in the first division league, thirty-two clubs in the second division league, forty clubs in the third division league, and sixty-two clubs in the fourth league.

Boxing in Saudi sports clubs. (SPA)

Most sports clubs in the Kingdom include a variety of sports, including: football, basketball, volleyball, handball, judo, taekwondo, swimming, athletics, tennis, table tennis, water polo, karate, boxing, wrestling, gymnastics, fencing, cycling, water sports, and diving, as well as rowing.

The larger sports clubs in the Kingdom have both professional and amateur sections in various sports, such as football, basketball, and volleyball. They wear the same club colors, use the same facilities, and also share a fan and supporter base. Moreover, there is an association for professionals and another for amateurs.

Saudi sports clubs utilize cities and sports facilities across various regions and governorates of the Kingdom as venues for their official engagements. There are a total of twelve cities with comprehensive facilities and venues, in addition to five large sports stadiums that host various sporting matches and events and are used for training players.

Cycle sport is one of the multiple sports in Saudi sports clubs. (SPA)

Sports clubs in the Kingdom receive support from the MoS through a comprehensive strategy to support the clubs in each sports season. This aims to enhance and sustain the financial and administrative stability of these clubs. This is achieved through the implementation of an efficient governance system that contributes to their development and maintains their stability in the long term. Additionally, it sets controls for allocating designated funds to various sports, fostering digital transformation within the sports clubs, enhancing their facilities, and supporting public attendance in league matches.

The strategy is subject to continuous development, as the ministry introduced several updates and modifications in 2022 to achieve financial and administrative regulation within sports clubs. This includes six initiatives covering various aspects, namely direct support, governance, different sports, public attendance, sports facility development, and digital transformation.

On June 5, 2023, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, crown prince and prime minister, launched the sports club investment and privatization project. This followed the completion of the executive procedures for the first phase, in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 in the sports sector, which aims to build an efficient sports industry.

In the first phase, the project included two main tracks. The first track involves approving investments from major companies and developmental entities in sports clubs in exchange for transferring club ownership to them. The second track involves offering a number of sports clubs for privatization, starting from the last quarter of 2023.

The project is built upon three strategic objectives, which are as follows: creating quality opportunities and an attractive environment for investment in the sports sector to achieve a sustainable sports economy, enhancing professionalism and administrative and financial governance within sports clubs, and elevating the level of the clubs while developing their infrastructure to offer the best services to sports enthusiasts. This will have a positive impact on improving the overall experience for the audience.

The overarching goal of transferring and privatizing clubs is to achieve qualitative leaps in various sports in the Kingdom by 2030 to produce an exceptional generation of athletes on both regional and global levels. This is in addition to developing the football game and its competitions specifically to place the Saudi league among the world's top ten leagues, increase the annual revenues of the Saudi Pro League from SAR450 million to over SAR1.8 billion, and raise the market value of the Saudi Pro League from SAR3 billion to over SAR8 billion.