Premium from the FT: European football has become a status competition between Gulf monarchies

By Simon Kuper of the Financial Times

When Manchester City lifted their first Champions League trophy in Istanbul on Saturday night, the Gulf's rapid takeover of European football's commanding heights was complete. City's owner, watching his team in a competitive match for the first time since 2010, is the Emirati royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. His Qatari neighbours hosted this winter's World Cup. Saudi clubs have spent the past few months signing some of the world's best players, including Cristiano Ronaldo. Meanwhile, in the week of City's triumph, Saudi Arabia effectively took control of golf's PGA tour.

No region outside western Europe has ever had such a grip on football's shiniest baubles. Many fans lament this — partly because of the Gulf monarchies' mistreatment of women, migrants, LGBT people and dissidents, and partly from a feeling that football shouldn't be for sale. There are still attempts to contest the Gulf's dominance. The Premier League has referred City to an independent commission, which will review more than 100 allegations of financial rule-breaking — charges that the club denies. But football faces a dilemma. Gulf money has made the contest at the top of the European game much more exciting than it would have been otherwise.

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