he future of Saudi professional soccer, whose reputation has been cracked,

The future of Saudi professional soccer, whose reputation has been cracked

Midfielder Jordan Henderson, well-known as the captain of Liverpool, a prestigious European soccer team, attempted to 'escape' from the Saudi Arabian Pro League.

While local reports continued on the 17th (local time) that Henderson's decision to join Dutch Ajax was imminent, there was also analysis that his transfer showed the 'innate limitations' of the Saudi league.

As dissatisfaction with the environment, which differs from the West in freedom of thought, expression, and action, grows, many people point out that the country's appeal as a destination for stars has already declined.

According to local reports, Henderson, who joined RET Park at the end of July last year, sought to return to Europe even at the cost of huge financial losses.

According to the British daily Telegraph, due to tax issues, Henderson has postponed receiving his weekly salary for the period he played in Saudi Arabia.

Since he made the transfer without receiving a single penny, his close associates are said to be skeptical about whether he will be able to properly receive his weekly salary from the Saudi team.

It is reported that Henderson signed a contract with RET Park for a weekly salary of 350,000 pounds (about 600 million won).

It appears that the social and cultural environment surrounding the Saudi league had an influence on Henderson's sudden escape.

Henderson, who played a cornerstone role in the 'reconstruction of a famous family' by spending 12 seasons after joining Liverpool (England) in 2011, is well known for paying a lot of attention to the human rights of sexual minorities, such as wearing 'rainbow soccer cleats' on a regular basis.

The move toward Saudi Arabia, which is criticized for oppressing sexual minorities, has been pointed out as contradictory to existing attitudes.

Accordingly, Henderson said in a media interview that he wanted a special experience in developing the league and team, but the British daily Guardian pointed out that it appears that he was unable to resolve the 'dilemma' in the end.

The Guardian said, “Everyone sticks to their principles until they are paid £30 million a year (approximately 51.1 billion won),” and “How absurd it is that he plays for a club in Liverpool that censors his photo wearing a pro-homosexuality armband. “I think I realized that I couldn’t harmonize with it,” he explained.

Moreover, compared to Europe, where soccer is the most popular sport, Saudi enthusiasm for soccer is low.

British media have been reporting since early this month that “Henderson had difficulty motivating himself as a professional player after seeing empty stands everywhere.”

Although world-famous soccer star Steven Gerrard was appointed as manager and Henderson, who played a key role at Liverpool, was recruited, the average attendance at RET Park at the beginning of this season is understood to have been only 31% of the home stadium's capacity (approximately 35,000 seats).

According to Transfermarkt, the average attendance at RET Park, which has played nine home games since the opening of the 2023-2024 season, was estimated at around 7,800.

Only 696 people attended the home game against Alyad on October 23rd last year.

This is in contrast to Anfield, where Liverpool's home game was held in May of that year, where 53,000 people entered and filled the stadium with excitement.

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