Saudi al-Hilal players gifted over $390k each after FIFA Club World Cup semi-final

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Sports will grant each al-Hilal football club player over $130,000 after they qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup final, while Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal said he would gift each player more than $266,000.

The Saudi club qualified for the final after the stunning 3-2 win over Brazil’s Flamengo football club on Tuesday night.

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The win marks the first time in the tournament’s history that a team from Saudi Arabia has reached the final.

The win is “a tangible confirmation of the great distinction that Saudi sports has experienced recently, due to the generous and unlimited support extended by our prudent leadership and the follow-up and interest of Crown Prince [Mohammed bin Salman] in preparing all means and capabilities for our sports to continue its advance locally, regionally and globally,” Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz al-Faisal said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

If the team goes on to win the tournament, Prince Al-Waleed said he would gift each player an additional $266,525.

Football in Saudi Arabia has been in the spotlight in recent months, most recently due to Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to join Al Nasr and the Saudi team’s historic win against Argentina in the World Cup.

The Kingdom has in recent years made a significant effort to invest more in sports as part of efforts underlined by the Crown Prince’s Vision 2030 reform plan to diversify the country’s economy and improve the quality of life.

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