Referring to Saudi Arabia’s recent efforts to host some of the world’s biggest sporting events, a French magazine wrote that the Saudi Crown Prince was seeking to restore his lost political image.
French magazine Marian writes in a note by Sebastian Bosova, a Middle East researcher on European relations with the Arab world, terrorism and extremism, that Riyadh is secretly aiming to host the Formula One Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia from December 3rd to 5th.
The series of world events and competitions that Saudi Arabia hosts every year is a great symbol for “Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman”, the Arab 21 news site writes today (Thursday), quoting Marian magazine.
The author believes that the Formula One World Championship, which is scheduled to take place next December for the first time in the history of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, is a new success in the recovery of Muhammad bin Salman.
Sebastian Bosova goes on to say that after years of global political stagnation, bin Salman is now trying to improve Saudi Arabia’s image; Bin Salman, who has been involved in several political crises and successive regions and is thus trying to make Saudi Arabia an attractive country for the West; Western countries that have always been excited about sporting events and new cultural events.
Arabic 21 writes that after the city plans under construction of “Neom” and “Paris Dakar” and the purchase of football clubs, Mohammed bin Salman now plans to carry out his own plans by seducing the world by presenting an attractive image of Saudi Arabia.
Investment and soft power
The author notes that after Saudi Arabia failed to buy Newcastle United in Riyadh last year, he wanted to buy the French club Olympique de Marseille, but his efforts were in vain; but this did not have much effect, because according to Boswa, Muhammad bin Salman was pursuing a long-term strategy, so he had to restore Saudi Arabia’s image and achieve its goals step by step, bypassing defeat.
Sebastian Bosova goes on to point out that despite the fact that Mohammed bin Salman made extensive use of the presidency of former President Donald Trump; but that changed with the arrival of new US President Joe Biden and the recognition of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz as a party to Washington’s account.
“Money weakens memory”
In another part of this note, the author states that in political geography, this pervasive strategy in investing is called “soft power”, which is a kind of “hiding in art” in which a country enters into cultural and sports issues in order to strengthen its soft programs by using soft power through sports.
Boswa believes that as the time for the World Cup in Qatar approaches, as well as in the shadow of the “Expo 2020” in Dubai, Riyadh has the ability to influence major world events.
New showcase
The author points out that the sums spent to gain prestige and a place in the field of world culture are usually imaginary sums; but that does not change, as Mohammed bin Salman offered England around € 350 million to buy Newcastle United in early 2020; but this proposal failed. On the other hand, he “alone” won one of the most expensive Formula One races in the history of the world by presenting the $ 90 million event that is scheduled to take place in December.
The failure of Saudi Arabia to buy the Manchester club is a reason why some sports leaders are obstructing Saudi Arabia’s broader strategy, given the caution of investors and buyers in dealing with suspicious cases.