Home > News > Newsmakers > Fore: Wealthy Saudi Fund, Already Muscling Into Golf, Steps Up in Soccer, Too
Newsmakers

Fore: Wealthy Saudi Fund, Already Muscling Into Golf, Steps Up in Soccer, Too

Having bought a U.K. football club and lured major players, the kingdom fortifies its homegrown teams financially.

By Larry Light



First there’s golf; now soccer. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is taking over four football clubs—all Ted Lasso fans know we are not talking about the gridiron here—in the kingdom. This comes amid more noticeable efforts to become a big name in professional golf and to broaden the Saudi economic reach beyond energy.

The nation’s Public Investment Fund will have a 75% stake in each of four teams now owned by the Saudi government, according to a Reuters report quoting SPA, the state news agency. The teams are Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli—the first three already in the top-tier, 18-team Saudi Professional League, and Al-Ahli about to rejoin after winning the second-level Saudi First Division in May.

The plan from the nation’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had been hinted at as far back as 2017. It intends to harness the nation’s investment fund to super-charge the chosen clubs, per Reuters. The kingdom estimates that the Saudi Professional League will expand its annual income fourfold by 2030, to $480 million. The PIF could not be reached for comment.

Far better known than the local soccer deal is the acquisition victory of PIF-backed LIV Golf. The 2-year-old Saudi pro golf organization last week announced a merger agreement (subject to an investigation from the U.S. Department of Justice) with the PGA Tour, which had been resisting such a union—until the U.S.-based circuit evidently realized that deep-pocketed LIV was enjoying too much success enticing high-end talent. The PIF also has made big investments in WWE (wrestling) and Formula 1 (racing cars).

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On the soccer front, the PIF—which has $650 billion in assets, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute—in 2021 bought Newcastle United, a member of England’s Premier League, for a reported $420 million, according to Sportico. What’s more, the Al-Nassr team in January signed marquee player Cristiano Ronaldo for a reported yearly salary of more than $100 million, which would make him the highest paid athlete in the world. Other Saudi teams followed with enticing pay packages for name performers.

None of this is to say that the oil-rich kingdom’s riches prevail every time. Example: Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, already paid by the kingdom as a tourism ambassador and a personal rival of Ronaldo’s for the title of world’s best player, nevertheless raised eyebrows this week by rejecting a Saudi offer and announcing his intent to sign with Inter Miami, part of Major League Soccer in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia had signed on to sponsor this summer’s Women’s World Cup before significant backlash from prominent women’s players and joint host countries Australia and New Zealand, over the kingdom’s restriction of women’s rights, forced an about-face.

The kingdom is expected to make an energetic bid to host the men’s World Cup in 2030 or 2034, possibly in partnership with Greece and Egypt. Further, the kingdom will host the considerably smaller Club World Cup this December; even before the PIF’s new investment, Al-Hilal reached the 2022 Club World Cup final in Morocco, losing 5 to 3 to Spanish superpower Real Madrid. One of Real Madrid’s goals was scored by French forward Karim Benzema, who has already agreed to join a new club for 2023-24: Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad.

Whatever the worldwide reaction, Saudi investment in sports seems set to continue.

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Home > News > Newsmakers > Former Ohio Teachers Board Member Sues Pension, Governor
Newsmakers

Former Ohio Teachers Board Member Sues Pension, Governor

Wade Steen claims he was illegally removed from the board of Ohio’s State Teachers Retirement System.

By Michael Katz



A former member of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio’s board of trustees is suing the board and the state’s governor, claiming he was illegally removed after calling for changes at the pension fund.

According to the complaint, Wade Steen, a certified public account, was first appointed to the Ohio STRS board in 2016 by then-Governor Jim Kasich as an investment expert and was reappointed in 2020 by current Governor Mike DeWine. Steen’s term was set to expire in September 2024. However, last month DeWine announced the removal of Steen from the board, replacing him with G. Brent Bishop, a managing partner at Scioto Capital Partners. The governor appoints one of the 11 members of the board.

DeWine said one of the reasons he replaced Steen was sparse attendance, stating that Steen missed three meetings and only partially attended three others since September 2022.

“You cannot be a voice for retired teachers if you are not in the meetings to be that voice,” he said, adding that he was also concerned Steen “was viewed as acting as an advocate for a specific investment firm at the expense of a thorough, competitive, and public process.”

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Steen’s lawsuit, however, argues that DeWine does not have the authority to replace Steen mid-term and disputes the allegations that he was an absentee board member.

“Gov. DeWine claims without foundation that Mr. Steen serves at the pleasure of the governor and that he has the unbridled power to remove Mr. Steen as and when he determines,” the complaint states. “These are false claims, contrary to the Ohio Constitution, Ohio statutes and court interpretations of those statues.”

The complaint claims Steen’s attendance at board meetings was in compliance with his duties as a board member and that he did not do anything that would allow for his removal. Steen also defended having investigated the financial management and use of Ohio STRS funds, saying he was in compliance with his duties as the governor’s appointed investment expert. Steen was considered part of a faction of board members interested in reforming Ohio STRS’ process.

When asked to comment on the lawsuit, a representative for DeWine referred to the governor’s May statement explaining Steen’s replacement. At the time, DeWine denied the move was related to questions posed by Steen to the board about transparency, investment strategies and bonus payments. DeWine said he agreed with retired teachers who have expressed anger over certain investment and benefits decisions made by STRS.

“I am in favor of retired teachers getting a cost-of-living adjustment from STRS,” DeWine said in May. “I’ve questioned how staff have received raises and bonuses when the retirees they serve got nothing. I believe STRS should consider investment strategies to increase returns. And I believe that changes to investment vendors should be made through a competitive and transparent public process.”

In 2021, the Ohio Retired Teachers Association sued Ohio STRS seeking documents as part of an audit over a slew of allegations, including a lack of transparency and that Ohio STRS failed to make its mandated cost-of-living adjustment increases. However, a follow-up report by the state’s auditor found no evidence of fraud or illegal acts.

Steen’s lawsuit charges each of the Ohio STRS board members, as well as DeWine, with one count of usurpation of office. A representative for Ohio STRS said the pension fund was unable to comment on pending litigation.

 

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