As the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) advertises for players to join its third division—in return for a house, car, and salary of $3-4k per week—we can’t help but wonder whose head this type of offer might turn. Two words: Usain Bolt. While the world’s most famous sprinter might have slightly higher wage demands, Saudi Arabia could essentially allow the Jamaican to realise his lifelong dreams of becoming a professional footballer. Yes sir, football is a wild place right now.
A recent advert posted on Futbol Jobs saw the SAFF advertise an “urgent need” for centre-forwards, wingers, central attacking-midfielders, central defensive-midfielders and centre backs from abroad (they’re clearly alright for full-backs). All you have to do is fill in the form and send off a showreel.
Bolt famously made a decision to try his luck at football after retiring from athletics in 2017, first training with South African side Mamelodi Sundowns before a two-day trial at German side Borussia Dortmund. When no contract came, Bolt hot-footed to Australia, training for an indefinite period with A-League side Central Coast Mariners. While he scored in pre-season, some confusion exists over whether he was actually offered a contract by the Gosford-based club. Either way, Bolt eventually left one-month later, retiring his football dream in the process in 2019.
While Bolt might feel that age could be an issue (he’s currently 36), he need only look as far as the Premier League for inspiration, with Chelsea’s Thiago Silva a regular starter at the canny age of 38. The Jamaican might also find himself put off by this being an unfancied lower league opportunity. But really, it’s very probably his last real opportunity to become a professional footballer. And if recent events in the Kingdom are anything to go by, who knows where it might lead to?
Saudi Arabian football has been intent on boosting the profile and quality of his professional football ranks since a June 5 ‘privatisation project’ by the Private Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) who acquired majority stakes in Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli. Since then a whole swathe of players have joined clubs from the Kingdom, including Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez and more. Al-Hilal has even tabled a world-record bid for Kylian Mbappe. Nobody knows what the heck is going to happen next. Seriously, don’t be surprised if the next Fifa World Club Cup is played on Mars or something.
While it’s highly unlikely that Bolt could be tempted to lace up his boots and pitch up to Saudi, there’s no doubting it would represent a similar PR coup for the lower reaches of the country’s football. And if we know the world’s greatest sprinter like we think we know the world’s greatest sprinter, Bolt would look at it with a view to proving his ability then swiftly joining the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League. An unlikely outcome, yes, but as the great man himself once said:
“I don’t think limits.”