Neymar limps out of training

As star footballers line up to take Saudi money, it is easy to forget this is a phenomenon that stretches back decades. Only now, the stakes are much, much higher.

Read about a Brazilian player being greeted by thousands of fans and whisked off in a Rolls-Royce to banquet with royalty, and Neymar springs to mind.

But this describes the arrival of Rivelino, who signed a lucrative contract with Al-Hilal in 1978 -- 45 years before Neymar, his modern-day equivalent, did the same this month.

"In addition to receiving a new Mercedes Benz and a reported $10,000-a-month living allowance, Rivelino will be housed in one of the spare palaces of Prince Khaled Al Saud," the Washington Post wrote at the time.

Similar luxuries -- adjusted to current prices -- are being lavished on Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and the other late-career superstars who have joined the Saudi Pro League this year.

This summer's transfer fees alone top $830 million, without counting the players' eye-watering wages, or Ronaldo's January signing in a deal which is said to net him 400 million euros over two-and-a-half years.

To suddenly spend at this scale and speed is unknown in football, and dwarfs Saudi's scattered acquisitions such as Rivelino, legendary coach Mario Zagallo, Roberto Donadoni and Hristo Stoichkov down the years.

More than vanity or "sportswashing" the country's highly criticised human rights record, however, the Saudi spree is part of an existential push: reshaping the economy before oil revenues decline.

"This project is part of a transformation project that's moving this country where it wants to go," Carlo Nohra, the Saudi Pro League's recently hired chief operating officer, told AFP.

'This is totally different' 

If Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is not new to spending big on footballers, things are very different this time around.

The current football project is part of Vision 2030, de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious drive to break Saudi's dependence on oil wealth.

"There was a push to bring big names" in the 1970s, Saleh al-Khalif, Al-Riyadiah newspaper's deputy editor-in-chief, told AFP.

"Rivo (Rivelino) came and some other Tunisian players who played well in World Cup 1978. But the experience was eventually a failure."

"It depended on the honour members of the clubs, not a government plan or spending," he said, referring to the royals bankrolling teams independently.

"It was not sustainable so it didn't survive. This is totally different from the current push."

These days, Saudi Arabia is investing hundreds of billions in everything from NEOM, a futuristic new city on the Red Sea, to tourist resorts and entertainment for the masses, including football.

The plan is to diversify sources of income for the desert country of 32 million, where two-thirds of the Saudi population is under 30 -- but time is of the essence.

OPEC, the oil cartel of which Saudi is a prominent member, has projected global consumption will peak around 2040, implying revenues will then flatten and decline.

"Saudi Arabia is up against the clock," Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Paris's Skema Business School, told AFP.

"Saudi Arabia has 20 years to diversify. In the meantime they're being exposed to oil-price fluctuations.

"They've got to move fast, they've got to move strategically, they've got to move effectively."

'Bread and circus' 

Packed crowds watching Ronaldo is quite a turnaround for a staunchly conservative country where women were banned from stadiums until 2019.

"Cynics will say what are the reasons behind it," said Ali Khalid, sports editor of Riyadh-based Arab News, pointing to talk of "sportswashing".

"But a lot of it is they're bringing to their people, who for a long time had no access to any entertainment of that level, they're bringing the best of it."

According to Nohra of the Saudi Pro League, "the main objective is how can we turn the sport into a sport that inspires, that engages, that entertains the Saudi people.

"That's what drives it."

But the investments in football, Formula One, golf and music festivals and more may be about more than encouraging people to spend, Chadwick said.

"At the heart of this I think is the security of the ruling family," said Chadwick.

"The investment in football, it's bread and circus for the 21st century.

"It's, 'Give the people what they want and hopefully they will leave you alone'. They won't question you, they'll support you."

The French finance and economy ministry was searched earlier this week as part of a probe into the 2017 transfer of Brazil football superstar Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, a source said to AFP on Thursday.

Officers with anti-corruption units carried out the searches on Monday, amid suspicions that PSG may have received favourable tax treatment as part of the transfer, the source said.

Neymar joined Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in 2017 for a world-record fee of 222 million euros ($242 million), scoring 118 goals in 173 matches despite a series of injuries.

Last year he left the French club for Saudi Al-Hilal, the latest world-famous footballer snapped up by the big-spending Saudi Pro League.

He will earn 100 million euros a season in Saudi Arabia, according to a source close to the negotiations, while PSG will pocket 100 million euros in the deal.

Dressed in colorful ponchos, a group of Peruvian shamans tie up an effigy of Neymar as they seek to "neutralize" him ahead of Tuesday's World Cup qualifying match against Brazil.

The group of traditional healers from the jungle, mountains, and coastal areas, called on "Tayta Inti" (Father Sun) to help Peru in its match against five-time World Cup winners Brazil.

"We have neutralized Neymar by tying his feet. We tied him up so that he is not in good shape, and doesn't run and play well," said shaman Felix Rondan.

The shamans blew into a conch shell as they carried out the ritual outside the national stadium, where they have erected a colorful altar with swords, amulets, flags, and photos of players from both teams.

Earlier, they took ayuahasca -- the powerful hallucinogenic concoction said to open the door to the spirit world.

Shaman Walter Alarcon said the ritual was aimed at clouding Neymar's mind so that he can not "achieve what he is looking for, which are goals."

Alarcon predicts a tie, saying the match will be difficult.

Brazil star Neymar endured an Asian Champions League debut to forget as Al Hilal had to score deep into injury-time to salvage a 1-1 at home to Uzbekistan's Navbahor in Riyadh on Monday.

Neymar, signed last month from Paris Saint-Germain for a reported €90 million, was making his first start for the record Asian champions having debuted on Friday as a substitute in the Saudi Pro League victory at home to Al Riyadh.

Runners-up in last year's Champions League, Hilal were fortunate not to lose their Group B opener having gone behind on 52 minutes at King Fahd International Stadium to Toma Tabatadze's expert finish. Navbahor, the 2022 Uzbekistan Super League runners-up, were competing in the Champions League for the first time.

However, Hilal defender Ali Al Bulaihi rescued a point for the four-time champions in the 100th minute, rising unmarked in the Navbahor area to head home Michael's corner.

Neymar, who earlier this month became Brazil's all-time lead goalscorer, had largely a night to forget. The forward was subjected to some particularly robust treatment from Navbahor, and was incensed just before the hour when he was trod on after being dragged to the ground.

Moments later, Neymar was booked for pushing over an opponent and then angrily kicking the ball at the player as he lay on the pitch.

Neymar did have a chance get Hilal back into the game three minutes from time, but his close-range header was straight at Navbahor goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov. Yusupov then made a spectacular save in injury-time to deny Serbia striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, although he could do nothing to prevent Al Bulaihi's leveller.

Also in Group D, Iranian debutants Nassaji Mazandaran won 2-0 away to India's Mumbai City.

Meanwhile, Saudi champions Al Ittihad began their quest for a third Champions League title with a comfortable 3-0 victory at home to Uzbekistan's AGMK in Jeddah.

Ittihad, back-to-back winners in 2004 and 2005, went into the Group C opener without Ballon d'Or holder Karim Benzema, who was injured, but struck twice in six minutes early in the first half.

Haroune Camara, starting in Benzema's absence, opened the scoring at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium on 10 minutes before Romarinho soon doubled the hosts' advantage.

The Brazilian got his second of the night four minutes before half-time, as Nuno Espirito-Santo's side eased to the three points.

In the group's other fixture, Iraq's Air Force Club held 2007 runners-up Sepahan, of Iran, to a 2-2 draw in Erbil.

In Group B, two-time Asian champions Al Sadd drew 0-0 at home with UAE side Sharjah – Algeria's Baghdad Bounedjah missed a second-half penalty for the hosts - while Jordan's Al Faisaly sunk to a 1-0 defeat in injury-time to Uzbekistan's Nasaf in Amman.

The group stage, which this year returned to a home-and-away format for the first time since early 2020, runs until mid-December, with the 10 pool winners and the six best second-placed teams advancing to the knockout rounds. That begins in February. The final takes place, across two legs, in May.

Seventeen-year-old rising star Endrick, hailed as one of Brazilian football's great hopes, got his first call-up for national team duty Monday as coach Fernando Diniz seeks to replace injured star Neymar.

Endrick, who is set to join Real Madrid when he turns 18 in July 2024, could make his senior international debut in Brazil's World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina this month, making him the youngest player to receive a call-up for the Selecao since Ronaldo in 1994.

"He's a player with the potential to be a great talent," Diniz told a news conference, announcing his squad.

"This call-up isn't pressure. It's a reward, and also a look at the future of what the kid can be."

Endrick, reportedly bought by Real Madrid for a 72-million-euro transfer fee, is fresh off scoring a clutch brace as his current club, Palmeiras, came back from three goals down to beat league leaders Botafogo 4-3 on Wednesday.

Five-time World Cup winners Brazil will face Colombia away on November 16 in Barranquilla and arch-rivals Argentina on November 21 at Rio de Janeiro's iconic Maracana stadium.

Diniz, who won the Copa Libertadores on Saturday in his second job as coach of Rio club Fluminense, largely overhauled Brazil's attack with Neymar sidelined by a knee injury.

Also in line for their senior debuts are Brighton forward Joao Pedro, 22, Atletico Mineiro's Paulinho, 23, and Porto's Pepe, 26.

In a surprise move, Diniz left out Tottenham striker Richarlison, a starter at the 2022 World Cup.

Besides 31-year-old Neymar -- sidelined for several months by a knee injury sustained on October 17 in Brazil's 2-0 loss to Uruguay at their last 2026 World Cup qualifier -- Brazil will also be missing their captain, Manchester United midfielder Casemiro, ruled out for several weeks with a hamstring injury.