The football industry is entering a change of era, and a new vision and new horizons for it have been sketched at World Football Summit Asia, the first-ever football industry event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Hosting WFS Asia aligns with Saudi Arabia's strategic vision to enhance its presence on the global sports stage and showcases its current influence in global football.

Throughout 48 hours, Jeddah was established as the temporary capital of the football world. It enabled the key decision-makers from clubs, leagues, federations, and brands associated with the sport to shape the future of the beautiful game. The program of the event provided a 360º view of the industry across topics such as the secrets to successful fan engagement and fan involvement mechanisms, overviews of the multi-club ownership model, the establishment of women’s football as a major sport, the adoption of sustainability as a priority for sports properties, and much more.

Some notable speakers on the second day included Ralf Reichert, CEO of the eSports World Cup Foundation, Miguel Angel Gil, CEO of Atlético de Madrid, Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air, former player turned entrepreneur, Patrice Evra, and football legend Clarence Seedorf.

The event has gathered over 1,400 representatives, with 70% of attendees joining from more than 70 countries. Across the entire football ecosystem, there is curiosity and wonder about the role that the Roshn Saudi League will play in the future, which were some of the topics discussed in panels that counted with the participation of Guido Fienga, CEO at Al Nassr, or Carlo Nohra, CCO at the Roshn Saudi League:

“We must recognize how we can reach audiences these days, the traditional model is changing, now we aggregate different audiences from different platforms.”

Along those lines, Romeo Jozak, from SAFF had this to add:

“Saudi is a talented nation, now we need to teach young players to play with self-confidence.”

Moreover, executives from brands like Aramco, Riyadh Air, Snapchat, Radisson Hotel Group, institutions like FIFA, The Saudi Arabian Football Federation, Roshn Saudi League, Serie A, LALIGA, Bundesliga or FIFPRO, and clubs like Al Nassr, Chelsea FC, Juventus, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, or Atlético de Madrid are in attendance. Javier Tebas, President of LALIGA, gave his recommendations to create a leading football league:

“To create a top-tier football league you need to invest more than just star players. Investing in growing the brand, in broadcasting to reach new fans, and enabling commercial partnerships for the league and its clubs is equally important.”

Above all, it was evident that there is a profound willingness from the main stakeholders of the industry to dialogue, connect, and create a better football together.

“The truth is that this summit has surpassed all of our initial expectations,” said Jan Alessie, Co-Founder and Director of World Football Summit. “The curiosity, excitement, and ambition to create a better football was palpable from the opening ceremony and I look forward to seeing how the exceptional leaders that have participated in this first edition of WFS Asia in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia engage to connect a football industry we are proud to champion.

From what I have seen and the conversations I have had, I am sure this has been the first of many WFS Asia in the country.”