Saudi Arabia is to step away from hosting and sponsoring sporting events after the departure of Jordan Henderson from Al Ettifaq.
The Saudis are said to be devastated by the loss of the former Liverpool captain, who joined Ajax this week after only six months playing in the Saudi Pro League.
“We had been making so much progress expanding our portfolio of events,” said a Saudi spokesman. “The 2034 World Cup, World Club Cup, Supercups, LIV golf and our recently announced snooker masters, but without Jordan we are nothing.
He had a plan to make everything better, to fix our problems. We had the money, but he had the vision and the moral integrity to lead Saudi sport forward. The snooker golden ball, for example, was his idea.
We have asked other sporting greats for advice; Steven Gerrard, Cristiano, Shaun Murphy, but none can replicate Jordan’s wisdom.
Therefore, with regret, we will be withdrawing our sponsorship and patronage of these events.”
In response Henderson has released a short statement saying he was “sorry” to “any Saudi sports administrators that felt offended or let down” by his decision, but that he would consider a return to Saudi in the summer when he would “begin to regret my move to Amsterdam.”