On the identical time, the league discovered that its valuations have been generally very completely different from these of the workforce presidents, who seemed to be more than pleased to make use of public cash to pay properly above market worth. When Al Hilal submitted a large bid for 5 Chelsea gamers, officers privately resented what they noticed as an overpriced payment that might push costs up elsewhere.
After a few weeks, the league realized that it wanted to vary its method, discover a strategy to convey some order to this chaos. The duty of doing so will fall to the official, who has had an influential, albeit inconspicuous, profession in Saudi sports activities. This man, Saad Al-Laziz, was to change into maybe an important individual in European soccer.
Receipts
Considered one of Van Winkel’s duties since taking on as technical director of the Saudi Arabian Soccer Federation in 2015 has been organizing excursions of a number of main European golf equipment. As company, he took with him various officers from the federation and a few workforce presidents. The objective was to see what Saudi Arabia may be taught from Europe’s most well-known expertise factories.
Van Winkel booked inns, organized visits and arranged the journey. Though he traveled with influential Saudis accustomed to a sure normal of luxurious, he made it some extent to function inside what he calls an affordable finances. “We’ve not been to luxurious five-star inns,” he stated. “It was good, however we did not have Mercedes drivers or something like that. For instance, I actually traveled from Dortmund to Ajax.”
It was an excellent resolution. On the finish of the journey, Van Winkel not solely gave an in depth presentation to about 100 Saudi officers displaying what he and his workforce had discovered, but in addition offered a whole set of receipts for the journey.
He was despatched by Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad, Minister of the Common Directorate of Sports activities, the predecessor of the Ministry of Sports activities. However the bills have been signed off by his vice chairman of technical and funding affairs: Al-Laziz.
Al Laziz has taken the identical finicky method since taking on from British chief Harry Cooke as chairman of the Saudi Professional League in Might. Colleagues variously describe him as well mannered, environment friendly, and clever. His English is “flawless”. He’s, as Van Winckel put it, “one who thinks macro.”
