RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is ready to become the “global football hub,” Jean Alesi, co-founder and director of the World Football Summit Asia, said on Thursday.
This came during the soft launch of the second summit, which will be held in December, which will gather the global football industry in Riyadh and expect more than 1,500 representatives and stakeholders from the football ecosystem.
Having become the epicenter of the football world, the Kingdom will host key decision makers from the clubs, leagues, federations and brands associated with the sport, all working together to shape the future of football.
Set to coincide with the FIFA Club World Cup, WFS Asia will feature over 150 speakers, and over 100 media representatives are expected to attend, providing extensive coverage.
Over the course of two action-packed days, attendees will have the opportunity to accelerate business growth through networking sessions and strategic knowledge sharing.
The platform has reached an agreement with the Saudi conglomerate Aljan & Bros Holding and its subsidiary SAT Entertainment to host the next five sessions of the summit in Riyadh. The inaugural World Food Summit in Asia took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“Bringing an event like the World Football Summit to Saudi Arabia is fully in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030,” said Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Ajlan, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ajlan & Brothers Holding Company.
“We firmly believe in the power of sport to unite people from around the world and forge valuable business partnerships. The unparalleled popularity of football has the potential to create jobs, boost corporate tourism, and create talent development opportunities for industry professionals.”
The decision to host WFS Asia in Saudi Arabia highlights the country’s growing prominence as a global sports powerhouse. The Kingdom has already secured the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and has attracted top talent like Cristiano Ronaldo.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia is a major contender to host the FIFA World Cup 2030. Besides football, the Kingdom has made great strides in other sports, including e-sports, esports, and others. The recent success of the Qatar World Cup has also helped highlight the wider region’s potential in the global sports industry.
WFS Asia is supported by the Saudi Ministry of Sports, the Saudi Football Association, the Saudi Professional League and the Asian Football Confederation.
WFS Asia aims to foster growth and collaboration in the football industry with the mission of establishing the summit as an annual event in the global football calendar.
Since its inception in 2016, WFS has attracted over 22,000 participants across 16 events and has built a global community of over 80,000 sports industry executives across its platforms.
The WFS director visited Saudi Arabia for the first time ever, hoping it would become his second home from now on. During the soft opening, he said: “With Saudi Arabia looking to establish itself as a leading power in global sport, it made perfect sense for the World Football Summit to organize an event here, connecting key regional football stakeholders with their international counterparts.”