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Saudi Arabia-IPL (source: Twitter)
The Saudi government intends to establish the world's richest T20 League in the Gulf region, and they have offered proposals to the owners of the Indian Premier League teams. The Saudi Arabian government has been aggressively funding a variety of sports, including Formula One with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the LIV Golf.
The Indian Cricket Board currently prohibits Indian players from participating in another nation's T20 tournaments, and the suggestion from Saudi government representatives for their biggest T20 league may have to persuade the board to change its restrictions.
According to The Age, conversations over a Saudi Arabian league have been ongoing for about a year, and any future Gulf league would have to be sanctioned by the Apex Cricket Council and the member countries.
With Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund investing heavily in major sports and events around the world, including the takeover of Premier League club Newcastle United, the Gulf state has been criticised for attempting to whitewash its human rights record through its investments in sports.
Earlier, Apex Cricket Council Chairman Greg Barclay revealed that Saudi Arabia is planning to invest in cricket after heavily investing in other sports such as football and Formula One. “If you look at other sports they’ve been involved in, cricket is something I imagine would be attractive to them," said Barclay.