Episode 10: Mohammed bin Salman: The most powerful man

Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, might be the most important man in world football who doesn’t even really like the game very much. With his oil-rich nation’s petrodollars, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader has ripped up the rulebook in golf, Formula 1, and even snooker. But MbS’s most controversial foray into global sport is football, the world’s most popular game, which he seems to have never taken even a mild interest in as a fan or player.

Mehreen and Simon chart the life of a once unremarkable, and not very wealthy, lowly prince, who has risen to become the most authoritarian modernising leader in Saudi’s modern history. It’s a story of a rapid rise to the top, dictatorial power, extrajudicial killings, and trillions of dollars that are being deployed to refashion the Saudi economy, partly through sport.

In 2021, MbS became the ultimate owner of Newcastle United, a premier league club that was bought by the country’s sovereign wealth fund. He’s also pumping billions into the Saudi Pro League, where Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo are on the Crown’s payroll. The millennial prince is even more likely to win the ultimate prize of hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2034 and probably even the Women’s World Cup 2035. All this for a man who doesn’t even like football.