If Cristiano Ronaldo did not hesitate to affirm that the Saudi Pro League was better than Ligue 1, the catastrophic audience figures for the Saudi championship in France provoked serial mockery against the Portuguese.
On January 19, Cristiano Ronaldo indulged in a statement that was daring to say the least. During the ceremony of Globe Soccer Awardsthe Al-Nassr player proclaimed loud and clear that the Saudi championship had nothing to envy of Ligue 1. The Saudi League is not worse than Ligue 1. The Saudi Pro League is more competitive than Ligue 1, I can say that after a year there. We are already better than the French championship now. » An outing which had already earned him a shower of mockery and sarcastic, even aggressive and accusatory, remarks. A few weeks later, the Portuguese was targeted again.
And if the five-time Ballon d’Or is still expensive, it is because the figures for the number of French viewers following the Saudi Pro League broadcast this season on Canal+ Foot are close to zero. According to information released on Saturday by The Team, for example, only 5,000 people were in front of their screens on Friday March 1 at 6 p.m., to follow the clash between Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad (3-1). The media pointed out that such an audience level was considered zero in terms of market share, and therefore not taken into account by Médiamétrie. Note that six times more viewers watched the National match between Rouen and Sochaux (1-0) three days later on the encrypted channel.
“ Holy flop »
So many observations which provoked amusement and sarcasm from readers of the information. “ Quite a flop for a championship better than Ligue 1 according to the mytho Ronaldo », commented this Internet user. “ Ronaldo is pathetic. This great player should assume his choice (…) », added this other user. For its part, the sports daily added that despite the massive arrival of stars from the various European championships for several months, the crowds in the stadiums still left something to be desired. Apart from the regularly full compounds of Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal, that of Al-Ittihad is two-thirds empty. The club is nevertheless the reigning champion.
The fact remains that the Saudi championship still has very large areas of progress and wants to believe that it will eventually break through internationally. Some positive signals exist according to Peter Hutton, member of the board of directors of the Saudi Pro League. Quoted by The Teamthe former director ofEurosport indicated that the overall audience “ would be on the rise, particularly on social networks “. A supposition that everyone will interpret as they wish.
