Page 20 - Saudi Arabia

Ronaldo and big-spending Saudi clubs to dominate Asian Champions League

Cristiano Ronaldo gets his first taste of Asian competition on Tuesday as Al-Nassr meets Shabab Al-Ahli of Dubai in a Champions League preliminary round playoff with the rest of the continent wondering if big-spending Saudi Arabian clubs can be stopped. Al-Nassr finished second in its domestic league last season but since signing the five-time Ballon D'Or winner in December, has added more stars this summer. Marcelo Brozkovic, Sadio Mane, Alex Telles and Seko Fofana have arrived from Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Lens respectively. The club has lost its first two games of the new Saudi Professional League season and Shabab Al-Ahli may be champion of the United Arab Emirates but Al-Nassr is still seen as a strong favorite to progress to the group stage, especially as the single elimination game will take place at its Riyadh home. In the past, only Japanese and South-Korean clubs could compete with Saudi clubs, Roel Coumans, who left his position as head coach of .

Saudi's football surge: Neymar, Ronaldo, and billions at play

In the past six months, the Saudi Pro League has signed at least 22 players from Europe. Watch the video to know about Saudi Arabia's football surge. >

Aleksandar Mitrovic leaves Fulham to join Neymar at Saudi club Al Hilal

Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is the latest big-name signing for Al Hilal, the Riyadh-based club announced on Sunday. The Saudi Pro League side, which signed Brazil's Neymar last week, posted a picture on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, of Mitrovic being presented with his team jersey with the caption Mitrovic is Hilali until 2026. Mitrovic, Fulham's top scorer in four of the last five seasons, was absent from his team's 3-0 loss to Brentford on Saturday, after getting injured in Fulham's opening match of the English Premier League season against Everton last week. The 28-year-old striker's contract with Fulham ran until 2026 and the west London club reportedly knocked back multiple offers from Al Hilal, which signed Neymar from Paris Saint Germain for a reported 90 million euros ($98 million). Al Hilal, a record 18-time national champion, is one of four Saudi clubs effectively nationalized by the country's Public Investment Fund (PIF). ESPN reported that

Ronaldo to Neymar: Saudi Arabia is changing football one player at a time

Saudi Pro League has signed at least 22 big names from European football since January. The contracts are also bigger than usual. How is it doing so, and why?

Confirmed! Neymar to Al Hilal: Brazillian star to earn 129.4 million pounds

PSG bought Neymar by paying Barcelona 222 million euros (approx Rs 1770 crore) in 2017.

Neymar to leave PSG! Could choose between Al Hilal and Barcelona: Reports

Neymar, who was omitted from the first squad training before the Ligue 1 opener of PSG against Lorient, has not returned to training unlike Kylian Mbappe

GBA: India reaching out to non-G20 members before September summit

Russia, Saudi Arabia and China not convinced about joining multilateral initiative

Talking peace in Jeddah

India offers a new perspective

Saudi oil giant Aramco reports $30 bn in Q2 profits, down nearly 40%

Saudi state-run oil giant Aramco said Monday that it made $30 billion in profit in the second quarter, a nearly 40% decline from the same period the previous year that it attributed to lower oil prices. Total sales stood at just over 400 billion riyals (about $106 billion), down from 562 billion riyals ($150 billion in the second quarter of 2022. In an earnings report filed with the Saudi stock exchange, Aramco said the decrease mainly reflected the impact of lower crude oil prices and weakening refining and chemicals margins. The company reported net income of 112.8 billion Saudi riyals ($30 billion) compared to 181.6 billion riyals ($48 billion) in the second quarter of 2022, a decline of 37.8% Aramco nevertheless raised its dividend paid out to investors to 110.18 billion riyals ($29.38 billion), compared to $18.8 billion in the second quarter of 2022. The performance-based dividend is partly based on the company's record earnings last year, it said. Our strong results reflect o

Saudi Arabia city of future Neom plans to grow crops in the desert

Apart from meeting the needs of the new city, the goal is eventually to turn the fledgling facilities into a regional food hub

NSA Ajit Doval in Jeddah for two-day conference on Ukraine crisis

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Saturday joined his counterparts from several countries on the first day of a two-day conference in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah that is aimed at finding ways for a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict. The conference, hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, is being attended by top security officials of around 40 countries. However, Russia has not been invited to it, according to diplomatic sources. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and China's Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui are among those attending the deliberations. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday that India's participation in the meeting would be in consonance with its long-standing position that dialogue and diplomacy are the ways forward to resolve the Ukraine crisis. Doval arrived in Jeddah on Saturday morning. Ahead of the high-level conference, Saudi Arabia said it is aimed at Riyadh's attempt to contri

NSA Ajit Doval in Jeddah for Saudi Arabia hosted Ukraine peace talks

Doval was welcomed at the Jeddah Airport by Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Suhel Khan and Consul General Mohammed Shahid Alam

Ukraine and its allies to woo the Global South at Saudi Arabia meeting

Zelenskiy would like the Jeddah meeting to pave the way for a summit of leaders backing the 10-point "peace formula" he released last year

Arabia extends cut of 1 mn barrel of oil a day through Sept, to boost price

Saudi Arabia said Thursday it will extend its unilateral production cut of 1 million barrels of oil a day through the end of September in its effort to boost flagging energy prices. The Saudi cut of 1 million barrels per day, which began in July, comes as the other OPEC+ producers have agreed to extend earlier production cuts through next year. The kingdom announced the extension in a statement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The move was widely expected by analysts. Benchmark Brent crude traded Thursday over $80 a barrel.

Saudi Arabia to host Ukrainian peace talks in August, India invited

Those taking part in the summit will include Ukraine, as well as Brazil, India, South Africa and several other countries

Saudi Arabia to build Pakistan's largest oil refinery at $10 billion

The complex shall have various components such as marine infrastructure, petrochemical complex, storage for crude oil and refines utilities

Football transfers: Riyad Mahrez leaves Manchester City for Saudi's Al-Ahli

Riyad Mahrez is the latest Premier League player to head to Saudi Arabia after signing with Al-Ahli. The Algeria international was a key player in Leicester's shocking title win in 2016 and then won the league four more times with Manchester City. He leaves after a season in which City won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. I've made a lifetime of wonderful memories and the manner of our Premier League title wins and the battles we've had with Liverpool and, last year, Arsenal, underlined our collective desire and mentality to be the best, Mahrez said in a statement on City's website. Mahrez scored 15 goals in 47 games in his final season with City but no longer started some of the biggest matches. He was an unused substitute in both the Champions League and FA Cup finals. At Al-Ahli, he will join Roberto Firmino, who was formerly one of City's rivals at Liverpool, and former Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. Al-Ahli is also set to sign one of Europe's highest-rated

Mbappe transfer news: Why PSG forward not willing to meet Al Hilal?

Kylian Mbappe is not interested in meeting with Al Hilal representatives given he has already agreed to move to Spanish club Real Madrid

Expat Salaries in Saudi Arabia are highest in world, says ECA survey

A fresh study by consultancy ECA International has discovered that expat salaries are the highest in this Middle Eastern nation

Is Mbappe going to Saudi Arabia? Al Hilal offers 300 million euros to PSG

In recent reports by top media outlets in Europe Saudi Arbaia's Al Hilal club has already offered 300 Million Euros to French Club Paris Saint Germain to sign Kylin Mbappe