13. The ‘Footballization’ of Saudi Arabia’s Sports Diplomacy: Football Politics as a Driver for ‘Beauty,’ ‘Brilliance,’ and ‘Benignity’

By promoting ‘beauty,’ ‘brilliance,’ and ‘benignity’ through the ‘footballization’ of sports diplomacy, the Saudi leadership aims to pursue socio-economic, political, and socio-cultural aspirations aiming at generating strategic access to attractive global markets in Europe and beyond in times of substantial economic diversification. Domestically, football investments intend to develop a national sports industry and create jobs for Saudi nationals, to promote its regional reputation as a non-Western platform for top sports, to integrate football into its nationalist identity politics, and to attract foreign investors and tourists. As such, football as the ‘beautiful game’ provides the Saudi leadership an influential and powerful instrument to consolidate authoritarian power, preserve social cohesion, and promote national unity and youth and female empowerment. By referring to relevant theories of sports diplomacy and soft power, the chapter thus delves into Saudi Arabia’s current socio-economic and regional transformation by assessing its public diplomacy efforts through football politics.