In the middle of last year, Jordan Henderson, captain of English Premier League giant Liverpool and 75 times capped by England, suddenly signed with Saudi Arabian team Al-Ettifaq, coached by his former teammate Steven Gerrard.

It wasn’t about the money, Henderson reassured all. The $280,000 a week he was getting from Liverpool just about covered his needs. It was because of his passion to “grow the game that I love”, to “grow the sport all over the world”.

Then he was off to join Cristiano Ronaldo et al, and you couldn’t see him for sand.

Rafael Nadal in Australia earlier this month.Credit: Getty Images

Of course, there was the small matter of his previous public support for the LGBTQ community. Al-Ettifaq took care of that. In the video they released to announce Henderson’s signing, they desaturated the colour of his Pride-style armband to black and white. In Saudi Arabia, everything is black and white.

You’d have to have been asleep or watching certain tennis players not to have noticed the stream of sportspeople, events and organisations lining up at the Saudis’ door in recent years, either to play there in competitions the Saudis just dreamed up or invite the Saudis to invest in them at home.

Soccer, golf, boxing, tennis, F1, the Olympics, horse racing; all appear in the portfolio of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. By one estimate, that fund has done nearly $10 billion in sports deals since 2021.

The latest is tennis legend Rafael Nadal, who has signed on as an “ambassador”.

It’s not for the money, of course. When you’ve already made more than $200 million in prizemoney in your career and a multiple of that in sponsorship, it couldn’t be about the money, oh no.

QOSHE - Saudi deal has tarnished Rafael Nadal’s halo - Greg Baum
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Saudi deal has tarnished Rafael Nadal’s halo

27 4
18.01.2024

In the middle of last year, Jordan Henderson, captain of English Premier League giant Liverpool and 75 times capped by England, suddenly signed with Saudi Arabian team Al-Ettifaq, coached by his former teammate Steven Gerrard.

It wasn’t about the money, Henderson reassured all. The $280,000 a week he was getting from Liverpool just about covered his needs. It was because of his passion to “grow the game that I love”, to........

© The Sydney Morning Herald


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