Saudi League newly promoted New Future City Sports (Neom) hired former Paris coach Galti as head coach this summer and signed European League celebrities such as Lacazette and Doocurre. However, when the French media "February" published a...
Saudi League newly promoted New Future City Sports (Neom) hired former Paris coach Galti as head coach this summer and signed European League celebrities such as Lacazette and Doocurre. However, when the French media "February" published an article talking about the situation of this "nova" and said that as an extension of Saudi Arabia's vision of 2030, this team does not have a good fan base.
New Future City Sports was founded in 1965. The club is located on the Tabuk Provincial Plateau, 1,300 kilometers north of the Saudi capital Riyadh, with a population of 600,000. The city hopes to quickly form a strong team and have a place in the territory of Saudi football.
After being promoted to the Saudi top league, New Future City Sports had to speed up the pace of infrastructure construction. A training center that meets European standards rose to the ground within three months, and there are currently two natural turf courses under construction. But in terms of product sales, the club's official jerseys cannot be found in Tabuk's sports goods store. 10 kilometers from the training center, overlooking the industrial area of Aramco, the area entrance and huge oil storage tanks are closely protected by armed armored vehicles. This summer, New Future City Sports' home court has also been upgraded against time to meet the requirements of the Saudi top league.
The day before the first home game on September 18, workers were still busy in the stadium corridors, locker rooms and other places. The air was filled with the smell of glue and paint, and the ground was covered with unfinished coverings. Outside the court, other workers are laying cables, asphalt or filling holes, while IMG technicians responsible for media production and sales are looking for suitable contacts to solve their logistical problems. On the day of the game, the club also built a small "fan activity area" near the parking lot, equipped with lighting and audio. But in fact, there were less than 1,000 spectators in the stands, almost all of them. Although there were no signs of riots, more than a hundred security personnel were closely guarding them.
And the 300 most noisy "fans" are not Saudi natives. They are guided from the bus to the designated area by security personnel and gather in a corner. These faces are mainly from Africa, and their singing is accompanied by drum beats to cheer the team. Most of these young immigrants settled in Tabuk and were hired to hot-sell the team, a situation that also exists in other Saudi clubs that lack mass support. Someone joked that their jersey was too new and obviously just taken out of the box.
According to the WhatsApp group that these "fans" show that they receive commands, each of them has a number, but their salary is different. A fan named Mansour revealed that he can earn 50 Saudi Riyals (about 11 euros) every night through this errand, and the reward will be collected with an attendance certificate after the task is completed.
