Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Firmino and co are just the beginning for Saudi Arabia’s Project Football, where the country’s love for the game is very real… but PIF’s four favorite clubs have a huge advantage

At a children’s park in a neat residential area, young people run from swings to brightly painted roundabouts, laughing and screaming as they enjoy the attractions. Parents watch and talk politely to each other.

It is a common scene that unfolds in most places on the planet. The difference here is that it is one o’clock in the morning.

“It’s the hottest time of the year,” a local tells me. “People are becoming nocturnal animals. It’s too hot to go out during the day.’

The first thing you notice when you step off the plane in Saudi Arabia is the scorching heat. When the much-discussed Pro League of the country started on Friday evening, the temperature was 40 degrees at kick-off.

It could explain why Al-Ahli, one of four lucky clubs chosen for support from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), took a 2-0 lead thanks to a thriving partnership between recruits Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino, and then ran out . of gas, eventually triumphing 3-1 against Al-Hazm.

You can buy many things with money. It can take Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to the desert. But it can’t make it rain.

Not that Michael Emenalo, the man who decides how the PIF ‘goodies’ are distributed, sees a big problem. “I think we’re going through the worst right now,” he says.

“And on Friday night, everyone survived. We will enter the best months in September, that will be easy.’

Emenalo, the director of football of the Saudi Pro League, is the man with the PIF checkbook and all the answers. He believes that armed with PIF support, more will follow Ronaldo’s lead.

Emenalo, a former Chelsea manager, is also positive about his view that the Saudi Pro League, currently ranked 58th, will be among the best in the world in a few years.

Some think this will go the way of the Chinese Super League. A passing whim; a vanity project. Others compare it to the organization of the World Cup in Qatar – an often artificial affair.

But a trip to Saudi Arabia quickly reveals an existing football culture.

Earlier this week, television screens in hotels and restaurants showed Wrexham v Wigan in the Carabao Cup.

Three hours before kick-off on Friday, in that exhausting heat, excited Al-Ahli fans poured into the stadium, creating a racket that lasted throughout the match.

They sang songs about rivals and their loyalty to their club. The referee was in a barracks and when ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy conceded a goal to their opponents and fouled them again not long after, there was howls of derision. It was a real football experience.

There was a strong sense of pride. People were delighted to see Western journalists at the game and thanked them for coming.

At Jeddah airport, a passenger in front of me at security turned, smiled, and handed me a tray. There was no rolling of eyes, no disbelief at the guy who forgot to take off his belt, or the woman who left a bottle of water in her purse.

“People feel that the western outlook of Arab people is one of fear, based on historical events,” I was told.

“They make it a point to show that this is not true. Being hospitable is a great asset.’

However, welcoming women into the field remains a work in progress. Opening night, it was a male dominated crowd.

Carlo Nohra, the CEO of the SPL, agrees that work needs to be done. “We need to make the product more accessible by improving the infrastructure by making facilities like family wards available,” he says.

Competition can also be a problem. The PIF’s favorite four in an 18-club league are not on a level playing field. The difference between Al-Ahli and Al-Hazm was immediately noticeable.

The Al-Ahli dressing room two hours before kick-off was a hive of activity, with a large backroom team making sure everything was in place for the arrival of Firmino, Mahrez, Allan Saint-Maximin and their other hard-won imports.

Across the hall, a lone kitman laid down their opponents’ equipment in near silence. While the game was hotly contested at times, you could imagine that as the season progresses, the gap between the haves and the have-nots will widen.

However, Emenalo points out that Europe is not immune to similar scenarios. “There’s no problem here because this is something we’ve seen elsewhere,” he says.

“The clubs in England or Spain or Italy are not owned by a big organization called PIF. But they are big clubs and they had considerably more economic power than the other clubs.’

Emenalo thinks the Premier League shouldn’t feel threatened, but adds Saudi spending is far from over. “The Premier League was a pioneer in the sense that it changed the media content for football, it changed the commercial interest in football.

“I believe we are on the right track and it won’t be long before we are where we want to be – where the ambition has always been – which is to be one of the best in the world.”