Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ettifaq soccer club named former England and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard as its new manager, the latest high-profile hiring by the kingdom.
The two-year contract was signed in London yesterday, the club said in a statement, without giving financial details. Gerrard is joining a soccer league that has already signed up stars from Cristiano Ronaldo to Karim Benzema in the past several months as it seeks to raise its profile globally.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which manages about $700 billion of assets, has taken a greater role in the Saudi league recently, acquiring majority stakes in four of the biggest clubs. State oil company Aramco took over another club at the same time. The government wants to quadruple the league’s annual revenue to $480 million by 2030.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made sports a key part of his strategy to diversify the economy, improve the kingdom’s image internationally and catalyze growth in tourism. Saudi Arabia is considering a joint bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, a tournament most recently held in neighboring Qatar. It has also earmarked billions to expand in everything from golf to Formula 1 to boxing bouts.
