Saudi Arabia
continues its expansion into elite sport.
The
Public Investment Fund
of that country (PIF) and the
ATP
, the body that governs the men's professional tennis circuit, announced this Wednesday the signing of a multi-year "strategic collaboration agreement", which will mark "a significant shared commitment to improve tennis globally."
"This agreement will make the PIF the official sponsor of the
ATP ranking
, celebrating the journey and progress of the players throughout the season," both parties point out in the text, which does not specify the amount that the fund will pay to put its name on it. in the world rankings - it already appears on the organization's official website - and also be linked to some of the most important tournaments on the calendar.
"The PIF will be associated with several tournaments, such as
Indian Wells
,
Miami
,
Madrid
,
Beijing
and the
ATP Finals in Turin
, in addition to the
Next Gen Finals
, which will be held in Jeddah until 2027," the statement added.
The two parties will also collaborate to "elevate the future of tennis in the long term" and the Saudi sovereign fund - one of the largest in the world - will contribute to the ATP's
OneVision Strategic Plan
, which seeks unity and growth with the distribution of bonuses for players or increases in the prize pools of the lower category tournaments of the major circuit and the Challengers.
"This strategic collaboration with the PIF marks a very important moment for tennis. It is a common agreement to propel this sport into the future," said
Massimo Calvelli
, CEO of the ATP.
ATP and Public Investment Fund (@PIF_en) have announced a new multi-year strategic agreement, establishing an important common commitment to develop tennis globally for players, fans, organizers and stakeholders at all levels of the sport.
— ATP Tour in Spanish (@ATPTour_ES) February 28, 2024
Thanks to this agreement, the PIF will become "a catalyst for the global growth of tennis, developing talent, fostering inclusion and driving sustainable innovation," justified
Mohamed Alsayyad
, Head of Corporate Affairs of the fund.
Saudi Arabia's interest in tennis is not new.
Between the end of November and the beginning of December last year, it hosted for the first time an edition of the Next Gen Masters, the competition that brings together the eight best sub-21s of the season and which was held at the
King Abdullah Sports City
in Jeddah. .
In the last days of 2023, it held a massive exhibition with
Novak Djokovic
,
Carlos Alcaraz
, the Tunisian
Ons Jabeur
and the Belarusian
Aryna Sabalenka
as protagonists, within the framework of the
Riyadh Season
, an annual entertainment and sports festival financed by the State that It has been celebrated since 2019, but for the first time it included this sport.
In the first weeks of January it was also announced that
Rafael Nadal
had become the new ambassador of the Tennis Federation of that country, where the Spaniard plans to install a new headquarters for his academy.
And at the beginning of February, the country announced the creation of the
"6 Kings Slam
" (Slam of 6 Kings, in Spanish), which will bring together none other than Djokovic and Nadal, two of the best players of all time and winners, winners between them 46 Grand Slam titles.
Along with the Serbian and the Spaniard, Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev
,
Jannik Sinner
and
Holger Rune
will also appear
, the only one of that group who has not yet won a Major.
6 Kings Slam, the tennis exhibition that will be held in Saudi Arabia and will have great protagonists.
Photo Twitter @Turki_alalshikh
The ultimate goal of the Saudi "empire" is to become a regular stop on the professional circuits.
At the ATP level, it wants to host an important tournament and, skipping the 250 and 500, it aims for a
Masters 1000
.
There are versions that claim that he has already started working to take over the license for the Madrid or Miami event, which would mean a huge blow to the calendar.
She is closer to earning a place on the women's tour because she has been negotiating an agreement with the
WTA
for months to host the
WTA Finals
, the season-ending event, which still has no confirmed venue for 2024. A possibility that many names tennis players - such as
Martina Navratilova
and
Chris Evert
- do not see it favorably, especially due to the culture of gender inequality installed in that country and the rejection of homosexuality.
"Organizing a tournament there would represent a significant step backwards, to the detriment not only of women's sports, but of women," the legendary tennis players wrote in a column published by The
Washington Post
at the end of January.
Another of the great racket stars of recent years, the British Andy Murray, expressed his opinion on the agreement during his time at the Dubai tournament.
"I imagine that it will mean the arrival of a lot of money, but that it will not go to the elite, but that there will be a plan to allocate it to the grassroots, to the
Futures
and youth levels, which shows that they really want to take care of this sport and its future. If so, it can be positive," said the Scot.
"If the money that comes in from that agreement goes to the grassroots, to the lowest levels, it can be positive," Murray said.
Photo REUTERS/Amr Alfiky
Since 2021, the PIF has been investing massively in the world of sport, with the creation of the
LIV
(Saudi golf league), direct competition to the traditional
PGA Tour
;
and the purchase of
Newcastle United
, one of the historic clubs of English football.
He also owns four clubs in the Saudi league, which invested nearly a billion dollars to attract several big soccer stars such as the Portuguese
Cristiano Ronaldo
, the Brazilian
Neymar
and the Frenchman
Karim Benzema
.
Saudi Arabia was also designated by
FIFA
as the organizer of the
Soccer World Cup in 2034
and for some years now has been organizing an annual
Formula 1
Grand Prix , another
MotoGP
Grand Prix and the
Dakar Rally
.
Humanitarian associations frequently denounce that these investments are part of a
"sportswashing"
campaign , with which the country tries to give a better image abroad thanks to sports, despite frequent complaints of non-compliance with human rights or in environmental matter.
With information from AFP.