The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recently hosted the IPL 2025 Auction. The auction was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After the success, there were speculations about the Kingdom launching the richest cricket league in the world.
His Highness Prince Saud bin Mishal Al Saud, Chairman of the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation (SACF), recently answered all the speculations and clarified the matter. He participated in the IPL 2025 Auction which was held over two days on November 24 and 25.
The SACF chairman hit back at Saudi Arabia hosting the richest cricket league
Speaking on the sidelines of the IPL 2025 Auction in Jeddah, Prince Saud bin Mishal Al Saud dismissed any speculation about the launch of the world’s richest cricket league. He also denied any reports of him investing in the IPL in the near future.
“It’s not right,” he said, denying reports to start the richest cricket league. “That’s not true either,” he said when asked about investing in the Indian Premier League, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
IPL is easily the richest and biggest cricket league in the world. It is considered among the biggest tournaments in sports worldwide. Due to its incredible oil wealth, the Sheikhs in the country were planning to launch a cricket league featuring some of the top international stars. according to one report.
The country has already invested a lot of wealth into the game of football and signed some of the biggest names in football to play in their leagues. Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Neymar and Sadio Mane are some of the biggest names in football to play in the Saudi Arabian Pro League.
Companies like Aramco and Saudi Tourism have already invested in cricket in the last few years. Aramco, one of the largest oil producing companies in terms of production and revenue, has even been an associate sponsor of the IPL in the past.
Saudi tourism has also made waves and has been associated with the IPL for the past few years. Recently, the BCCI in its general meeting held in Bengaluru took a decision to prevent private investment in the country’s governing body and its leagues. The resolution is mainly aimed at reducing future investments by Saudi Arabian companies.
Will Saudi Arabia host IPL in near future?
While Shahzad denied any possibility of investment in the tournament, he was positive about hosting several IPL matches in the near future. He thanked the government of Saudi Arabia and Jay Shah for giving them the opportunity to host the IPL 2025 Auction.
“The IPL auction is a great first step. It will help accelerate some of our plans. It would not have been possible to host it without the huge support of the Saudi government and Mr. Jay Shah (BCCI Secretary).” he added.
The SACF also aims to build a world-class cricket stadium in the near future which will help develop cricket in the country. Cricket is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and the kingdom is focused on it.
