00:00 My name is Ibrahim Al Qasem.
00:02 I'm the General Secretary of Saudi Arabian Football Federation.
00:05 Fantastic. Thank you so much for your time.
00:07 So, you have two fantastic games in Newcastle.
00:10 How is that going for you?
00:11 Well, this is now the first training camp with the new coach,
00:18 Mr. Roberto Mancini.
00:22 You know, we are building up toward the upcoming World Cup qualifiers
00:28 as well as the Asian Cup, which will happen in January.
00:33 So, as a start in this build-up process,
00:36 I think we are moving in the right direction.
00:40 We can see the technical development at the national team.
00:45 So, we are quite content with this camp.
00:53 What are your thoughts on the partnership with Newcastle United
00:56 and how that moved everything forward in Saudi Arabia?
01:00 Well, that was a great opportunity actually to come here
01:04 and see the environment ourselves.
01:09 There was an invitation initiated actually by the club
01:15 through the British Embassy to collaborate with us,
01:20 with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.
01:22 We started that off with the women football
01:25 and then also we discussed the opportunities of the men's football.
01:31 So, we are here today.
01:33 We witnessed the environment ourselves.
01:35 We witnessed St. James Park ourselves.
01:39 We witnessed also the ambience and the audience, the spectators.
01:44 It was just lovely.
01:47 It's been a fantastic few months for Saudi Arabia
01:51 with football, it's grown incredibly.
01:53 It all started with Ronaldo coming across.
01:56 What impact has that had in the Saudi league?
01:58 Well, let's go just a couple of months before.
02:03 It all started with the World Cup,
02:06 with the Saudi Arabians won against Argentina.
02:10 That showed the world that Saudi Arabian football is moving ahead,
02:16 is moving up, is going up.
02:20 And the development on all aspects of the sports
02:25 or the football ecosystem in Saudi Arabia.
02:28 So, when it comes to technical, when it comes to players,
02:32 when it comes to coaches, when it comes to referees development,
02:36 it's all aligned in our strategy, in our football,
02:42 our long-term football strategy.
02:44 And part of that, of course, is to strengthen the league,
02:50 to make the league...
02:53 Sorry.
02:54 To make the league stronger, more competitive.
02:58 And this is what we can see now with all the names coming to Saudi Arabia.
03:03 This is just... It's not the first step.
03:06 It's one of the steps toward improving football in Saudi Arabia.
03:11 And how will those big names inspire the next generation of Saudi players as well?
03:16 Well, let's first say that football is number one sport in Saudi Arabia.
03:23 Whoever has been to Saudi Arabia and has witnessed the passion
03:30 Saudis have for football, maybe you've seen it during the World Cup.
03:37 Let's say that we always say that football runs in our veins
03:41 and truly, truly, as the young boys, young girls, as they grow up,
03:49 they have this ambition to play football, to play for the national team,
03:53 to play for their local clubs.
03:56 So, they are already inspired to play football and to go that pathway.
04:03 Having these names also, to play in front of them
04:07 while they used to see them only on TV,
04:10 that also makes a difference.
04:11 That also adds up toward their ambitions to play football
04:17 and to become elite in football.
04:20 Saudi League signing all those players obviously made a lot of noise
04:23 around the world and, you know, a lot of people talked about it.
04:26 What have you made of the things that people have said
04:28 about players going there?
04:30 So, the good and the bad things?
04:31 Well, I would just say that we are investing in our league.
04:36 We are investing to improve our league.
04:38 We are investing to increase the competitiveness in our league
04:42 and this is part of our plan to improve football in Saudi Arabia.
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