Should Saudi Arabia emulate the Moroccan model?

 By Saoud Moussa Baccus

The Mohammed VI Football Academy was inaugurated in 2010 with only one goal: that of reshaping Moroccan football from its moribund state to a respectable level. The monarch took a special interest in the project, gave his blessing, invested his own money, and appointed his personal secretary as head of the academy. The academy offers a football-study program following in the footsteps of other successful academies in Europe.

Fast forward to 2022. Do those names -Youssef En-Nesyri, Nayef Aguerd, Azzedine Ounahi, Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti– ring a bell? Yes, they are graduates of the academy. The first one scored the history-making winning goal against Spain in the 2022 World Cup. Watch it again here for its supreme execution: Youssef En Nesyri goal - Spain vs. Morocco.

What’s stopping Saudi Arabia from setting up its own academy, run by competent people with football success as its only objective, where students are housed on the grounds of the academy and taught how to play football as much as they are taught maths, science, languages and other subjects in English and Arabic? If it is not an implicit part of Vision 2030, then it should be.

The academy should prepare its graduates to play professional football in Europe. There is no other way to reach the pinnacle of world football. You got to play among the best and right now the best footballers are playing in European leagues.

But there is something else that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should do to attain quicker success. Instead of relying on its own youth, the Saudis should seek young talents beyond its border who are mid-way in their development. Egypt and Western Africa come to mind. They have interesting demographics, as shown in the table below (the figures are not up-to-date).

There are many talented youngsters in the poorer part of the world who are just waiting for a nurturing environment to explode. Saudi Arabia should go and get them in a mutually beneficial arrangement. That may just be the important ingredient to lift the cup sooner.

There are many talented kids out there waiting to be given a chance to showcase their talent. Bring them over, give them an education and teach them how to play football. When they are ready, send them to Europe to toughen them up in competition football. And when they are ready, they will gladly represent Saudi Arabia in international football tournaments. All of this takes time.