Al-Sheikh took over the reins in 2019, and has since seen Almería become a La Liga team.
Turki Al-Sheikh, who chairs his country’s General Entertainment Authority, is one of the most influential individuals from Saudi Arabia.
When heavyweight boxers Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk faced off at a mid-November press conference in the U.K., each camp could agree on something. The fight, a highly anticipated slugfest taking ages to organize, wouldn’t have been finalized without Al-Sheikh’s role behind the scenes.
Saudi Arabia’s continued and controversial impact on elite sport has been well-documented, from the breakaway LIV golf movement to breaking into Formula 1 and a sole bid for the soccer World Cup in 2034. In a highly commercialized world like boxing, Al-Sheikh, working under the wealthy Saudi state’s name, helped get the deal done. The event will take place next February—a highlight towards the end of Riyadh Season.
Given his primary brief is bolstering Saudi Arabia’s image by making the nation a cultural and sporting center, it’s easy to ignore that Al-Sheikh is also a soccer owner, watching over Spanish first-division team Almería. As it stands, and in sharp contrast, that gig could hardly be faring any worse.
Desperate for points in the coming games, beginning with a home fixture against Real Betis, Almería is last in the La Liga table and the only club in Europe’s top leagues still searching for a league victory this season. The problem isn’t so much scoring goals but conceding them. The Andalusians have let in 37 this term—again, worse than any side in England’s Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1 and the Portuguese Primeira Liga.
Why the struggle? Well, the side has enough quality to avoid the drop. But it’s lacking confidence, having fallen into a slump. It’s perhaps short on characters, too. As a forgiving opinion piece in local outlet La Voz de Almería put it (Spanish) after a 2-1 defeat against Getafe, where it led and later left with nothing, “The team needs a solid spine with experienced and capable players to help the young ones grow. Almería doesn’t have that.”
Belgian 22-year-old Largie Ramazani, pictured here in Almería away strip, is a bright speak in a … [+]
Here isn’t an all-time low. In its various guises, now Unión Deportiva Almería, the team has spent most of its history below the top tier. So, once Al-Sheikh left his previous venture, a club named Pyramids in Egypt, to turn his attention toward Spain’s south coast in 2019, there was excitement amongst supporters dreaming of dawn unlike any they had seen before.
After the takeover, reportedly worth around €20 million ($22 million), he focused on the basics, improving the training facilities and ground, with the latter’s name changing from the cool-sounding Estadio de los Juegos Medittaráneos to the more corporate Power Horse stadium for partnership reasons. While the side isn’t comparable to the one Aston Villa coach Unai Emery led in 2008, when it finished in La Liga’s top half, there’s been success—achieving promotion last year and staying up, albeit by a solitary point.
Amid the immediate travails, it’s normal to wonder why there’s no quick fix. With the wealthy Al-Sheikh—active on social media and a self-proclaimed wordsmith—as owner and president, the money and good intentions for Almería seem abundant, that it can invest heavily in players and soon reverse its fortunes. However, La Liga closely monitors owners and expenditure, with clubs only allowed to spend 70% of their income on players and staff. Compared to the more superior, marketable giants—in other words, Real Madrid and Barcelona—Almería isn’t the same cash cow.
Al-Sheikh knows as much. If he wanted to guarantee building a soccer titan, he could have gone bigger, to a league where up-and-coming teams can buy more freely. Except, why do that when your homeland’s Public Investment Fund has since backed Premier League outfit Newcastle United? Or when a star-studded domestic Pro League adorns Saudi Arabia’s soccer façade? Regardless, while he juggles his commitments, Almería requires a reboot.
The target is staying close to Granada, Celta Vigo and Mallorca before the January transfer window arrives, an opportunity to make some tweaks. Basque coach Gaizka Garitano is desperate for wins to turn the tide and convince Al-Sheikh he’s the right man after taking over from winless predecessor Vicente Moreno in September. Entering a crucial December, which includes trips to Atlético Madrid and Barcelona, these are testing days for Project Almería. The proprietor has the authority. Its fate will ultimately rest on those in the dressing room.
