Saudi Pro League

History of the Saudi League

The history of official football competitions in Saudi Arabia dates back to the early 1950s. The first official tournament was held in 1951 and followed a knockout format. At that time, football affairs in the Kingdom were overseen—officially—by the General Directorate of Sports and Scouts under the Ministry of Interior, before the Saudi Arabian Football Federation was established. The Directorate organized the first official competition under the name of the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Cup, and Al-Ittihad won the inaugural edition.

Competitions held between 1957 and 1974 are generally considered part of the Saudi King’s Cup. However, according to some researchers, Saudi league and cup competitions effectively began in 1957. One of these researchers, Nabih Saati, stated that the Saudi League and Cup started in 1377 AH (1957). He explained that early Saudi football was initially made up of matches between clubs in Makkah and Jeddah, then Riyadh, then clubs from the Eastern Province, then Al-Qassim, then Hail. These regional “leagues” acted as qualifying stages leading to the final rounds of the national competition known as the King’s Cup. The teams that topped their regional groups advanced to the final stage. These regional rounds were not championships in themselves, as some claim, but rather qualification phases for the national King’s Cup.

The first King’s Cup match was played on Friday, 14 Jumada Al-Awwal 1377 AH, at 5:10 PM, between Al-Ittihad (Jeddah) and Al-Shabiba (Makkah), ending with Al-Ittihad winning 3–1.

Al-Wehda won the first King’s Cup title, defeating Al-Ittihad 4–0. Later, Al-Ittihad responded by beating Al-Wehda in the final three consecutive years.

The Central Region participated for the first time in 1962, and Al-Hilal won the title in its first participation after defeating Al-Wehda 3–2 in the final.

Arabic Names on Players’ Shirts

Players’ names used to be printed in English on shirts, and this continued until 2020. On 6 October 2020, the Ministry of Sport issued a decision to print players’ names in Arabic. The Saudi Minister of Sport, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, stated: “I am pleased to announce the participation of the sports sector in activating this year’s initiative to choose Arabic calligraphy for writing players’ names on the shirts of clubs in the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Professional League for the new season.”

The Saudi League Under Different Names

Until 1974 (1394 AH), Saudi football competitions included regional championships. In that year, it was decided to unify the regional competitions into a nationwide points-based league system, provided that it included two tiers: First Division and Premier Division. To determine which clubs would participate in the two divisions, the Saudi Football General Assembly (now the Saudi Arabian Football Federation) decided on 9/7/1394 AH to create the Classification League, consisting of 16 clubs from across the Kingdom, split into two groups. The top four from each group qualified for the Premier Division, while the bottom four from each group joined the First Division.

The Classification League 1974–1975

The first edition of the Classification League was held in the 1394–1395 AH (1974–1975) season, according to the two-group format.

Group 1 included: Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli, Al-Wehda, Al-Yamamah (now Al-Riyadh Club), Al-Ettifaq, Al-Ansar, Al-Khaleej, Al-Rabee’.
Group 2 included: Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Shabab, Al-Kifah (now Hira), Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Nahda, Ohod, Okaz.

The clubs that qualified for the Premier Division were: Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli, Al-Wehda, Al-Yamamah (currently referred to as Sajer), Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Shabab, Al-Qadisiyah. The remaining eight clubs became members of the First Division.

In the Classification League final, Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal competed for the title, and Al-Nassr ultimately prevailed, defeating Al-Hilal 3–1.

The Points System 1976–1990

The year in which the Saudi Premier League (or “Premier Division”) began was 1395 AH (1975), but due to the assassination of King Faisal, the competition was not completed and was cancelled 33 days after the assassination. The effective start of the league therefore came in 1396–1397 AH (1976–77), with Al-Hilal winning the first title and receiving the league shield. The following season, the number of participating teams increased from eight to ten.

Professional foreign players were first allowed to join in the third season (1398–1399 AH / 1978–79). One of the most notable foreign players was Brazilian national team captain Roberto Rivellino, who played for Al-Hilal.

In the fifth season (1402 AH / 1982), the league format was changed to a “joint league” for one year only, because the Saudi national team was participating in World Cup qualifiers. Premier Division and First Division clubs were combined into a single competition of 20 teams, split into two groups. The top two from each group advanced to single-match semi-finals, and the winners played the final. Al-Ittihad won the trophy, defeating Al-Shabab 1–0. After this joint-league season, the Saudi Football Federation issued a decision to ban foreign players from Saudi competitions after that year.

The number of participating teams was increased from ten to twelve in the eighth season (1405 AH / 1985). The following season (1406 AH / 1986), the Premier Division was split into two groups of six clubs. The top two from each group advanced to a final league stage, while the remaining clubs competed against their counterparts in the other group. The final stage was played between Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Wehda in a double round-robin format, and Al-Hilal won the title and shield. For the first time that season, matches were played on natural grass. The league later returned to the traditional points system and remained so until the end of the 1410 AH (1990) season, which was also won by Al-Hilal.

The “Golden Square” Playoff System 1991–2007

The competition name was changed to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques League Cup in the 15th season (1990–91). To decide the champion, the “Golden Square” system was introduced, using two-legged knockout semi-finals between the top four teams from the league stage. The pairing format was: 1st vs 3rd and 2nd vs 4th, with the winners meeting in the final to win the cup instead of the old league shield.

Al-Shabab won the title in the final in Jeddah, defeating Al-Nassr 1–0. This playoff system remained in place for 16 seasons, and was removed at the end of the 1428 AH (2007) season.

For the first time in Saudi football history, local players were brought under a professional framework in the 1413 AH (1992–1993) season. From that point onward, the Saudi Premier League became a semi-professional competition, with most players effectively full-time professionals. In the same season, Premier Division clubs were allowed to sign foreign players, with a limit of three foreign players per club. Initially, only two could be on the pitch at the same time, before allowing all three to play together at any time.

Later, minor adjustments were made to give additional advantages to teams leading the league stage, following criticism that the Golden Square format did not sufficiently reward league-stage performance. One key change—starting in 1417 AH—was to have the 1st place team face the 4th place team in the semi-finals instead of 3rd place.

The Golden Square then evolved into a “ladder” system in 1422 AH (2002), where the 1st place team qualified directly for the final, while 3rd hosted 4th, and the winner played away to 2nd; the winner of that match then faced 1st in the final. In the final in Jeddah, Al-Hilal (1st) defeated Al-Ittihad (2nd) 2–1.

The last season under the Golden Square system was the 31st season (1428 AH / 2007), where Al-Ittihad (2nd) defeated Al-Hilal (1st in the league stage) 2–1 in the final held in Riyadh.

Return to the Points System 2007–Present

The traditional points system returned in 1429 AH (2007–08). The season ended with Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad level on points, but Al-Hilal won the new league shield due to superior head-to-head results, after defeating Al-Ittihad 1–0 in the final round under the competition rules announced before the season started.

The league then moved toward full professionalization in line with AFC requirements starting in the 2008–2009 (1430 AH) season. However, the condition of increasing the league to 16 clubs was not implemented at the time, due to previous individual decisions by the Saudi Football Federation. A separate body was established to manage the league, called the Saudi Professional League Commission, later becoming a league association, with the requirement that all amateur players be converted into professionals as soon as possible. In that season, Al-Ittihad regained the title from Al-Hilal, winning 2–1 in the final round in Riyadh.

At the end of the 2009–2010 (1431 AH) season, the Saudi Football Federation issued an official decision to increase the number of teams from twelve to fourteen, starting with the 2010–11 season, with the possibility of reviewing an increase to sixteen clubs by cancelling relegation for one season.

The league champion qualifies for the AFC Champions League, along with the teams finishing second and third. The King’s Cup winner also qualifies; if the King’s Cup winner is already among the top three league finishers, the fourth-placed team qualifies as well.

Broadcasting the League

In the early years—before the spread of television—coverage of matches, competitions, and club news was carried by magazines, newspapers, and radio. Aramco radio was the first to broadcast live coverage of Saudi league football in the late 1950s, followed by the private Saudi Tami radio and the official Saudi radio in the 1960s.

As Saudi Arabia developed, Saudi television began broadcasting sports and league news in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, channels such as Orbit, ART (Arab Radio and Television Network), and MBC covered and broadcast major matches. In 2002, the Saudi Sports Channel was created to take responsibility for broadcasting and covering the league and Saudi sports activities. In 2006, ART obtained exclusive broadcasting rights for 300 million SAR.

In 2009, the Saudi Football Federation announced the renewal of a joint television deal with ART for the next two seasons for 300 million SAR (150 million SAR per year). However, ownership of its sports channels was transferred to Al Jazeera Sports on 14 December 2009. Line Sport also obtained rights to broadcast some league matches.

In 2011, a royal order granted exclusive rights to the Saudi Sports Channel to broadcast Saudi sports competitions for three years. After that period ended, MBC Group acquired rights to all Saudi football competitions for ten years, for a total value of 4.1 billion SAR.

In 2018, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) acquired exclusive broadcasting rights for ten years through a package of encrypted channels known as Dawri Plus. The Crown Prince ordered that matches be broadcast free on the Saudi Sports Channel. In the 2021–22 season, the Saudi Pro League announced that SSC was granted satellite and digital rights for one sporting season.

Club Mascots (Icons)

During the “Support Your Club” initiative launched by Turki Al-Sheikh on 24 December 2017, the General Sports Authority revealed the official mascots (icons) of clubs participating in the Saudi Professional League. The mascot designs vary between characters representing well-known club nicknames, animals reflecting the local environment, and symbols tied to the region’s identity.

Al-Ahli chose a lion as its mascot, contrary to what many fans expected (some believed the crocodile would be the club’s symbol due to its popularity among supporters). The Al-Ahli lion wore the number 13, referencing the club’s King’s Cup titles. Al-Hilal selected a shark, matching the well-known fan “tifo” over the years, featuring the number 5 as a reference to the club’s historic captain Saleh Al-Nuaimi.

Since Al-Nassr is known as the “Knight of Najd,” it chose a knight as its mascot. Al-Faisaly appeared with a fox, which sparked controversy. When the fox mascot was revealed, sources said it had not been selected by the club’s management, raising the question of why the club had not published its mascot through official channels—along with hints that it might change.

Other clubs’ mascots similarly reference their symbols, colors, history, and local identity. For example, Al-Ittihad adopted a tiger, Al-Batin a camel, and Al-Taawoun appeared with a wolf, differing from what the General Sports Authority had previously revealed. Al-Qadisiyah chose an Arabian oryx, and Al-Fath (from Al-Ahsa) chose a well-known local bulbul (songbird).

Ohod’s mascot was a snake; despite the design’s quality, it was unpopular among fans in Al Madinah, and Ohod was the only club that did not choose its mascot itself—the Saudi Football Federation selected the snake icon.

Al-Ettifaq, known as the “Knight of Al-Dahna” in the Eastern Province, chose a horse, which had appeared in one of the club’s previous emblems. There were questions about Al-Raed’s choice of a head-shaped design resembling a ball, but this reflects the city’s famous water tower in Buraidah, home of Al-Raed.

All these mascots are marketing symbols used in investment and merchandising, including the production of club-branded goods.

Sponsorship Rights

Zain signed a sponsorship agreement with the official authority managing the professional league under the Saudi Football Federation. The agreement stipulated that Zain would sponsor the Saudi League for five years starting from the 2009–10 season. The sponsor was also given the option to place its logo on referees’ kits, players’ shoulders, and certain related branding within stadiums.

Later, Abdul Latif Jameel obtained league title sponsorship rights from the 2013–14 season through 2017–18.

On 23 August 2022, the Saudi Pro League announced a new sponsorship agreement with ROSHN, the national real estate developer and a wholly owned company of the Public Investment Fund (PIF). The agreement covered title sponsorship of the league name for five years, valued at 478 million SAR, making the new official name the “Roshn Saudi League.”