The win over Inter in Istanbul was the latest jewel in the crown for Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi-based owners. Victory in the most attractive club tournament in the world gives them the prestige and recognition they have invested in acquiring over the 15 years they have owned the club in light blue east Manchester. Manchester City, which was the eternal little brother in the city and which was at level 3 in England at the time city rivals United were the first English club to win the treble in 1999. “THE TREBLE”: Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Manchester United won the treble in 1999. Photo : REUTERS FILE PHOTO / Reuters That was when Ole Gunnar Solskjær entered folklore as the match winner in extra time in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich. This season, Erling Braut Haaland has rewritten all of football’s history books long before reaching the corresponding final. Haaland came to City to win the Champions League. City won the Champions League. Job well done, as they say in football’s homeland. At a price that until recently was thought to be reserved for the imagination. FINALLY: Did Pep Guardiola manage to lead Manchester City to the Champions League title. Photo: AFP Money rules the world There, too, the last week has changed our world view. WELCOME CEREMONY: Former Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema went to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia this week. Photo: Reuters Aging stars such as Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante have signed contracts with Saudi Arabian clubs for billion-dollar salaries. And no one has any idea how far this can go. Football as we know it is in total change. And most frustrating of all: No one seems to have the means or power to direct development. The huge petroleum funds are taking control. And they do it with money. The world is that simple after all. Simple – and at the moment totally unclear. A question of power When the United Arab Emirates, where City is owned, Saudi Arabia and Qatar invest huge sums in football, golf and other sports, it is often called “sports laundering”. But the term is on the way to being taken by inflation. Because there is so much more. It is a question of power, of influence and position. Of course within football, but also in the world as such. Sport has become a means to achieve greater goals. And Erling Braut Haaland, Viktor Hovland and the other stars are most of all well-paid pieces in the game. And it works. So to that extent it works. PIECE IN THE GAME: Viktor Hovland raises the trophy after winning the Memorial Tournament earlier in June. Photo: Reuters Buying a sport This week, the petroleum states in the Middle East have had their biggest week ever in the sports arena. First through the great golf peace, where the two major tournaments PGA and LIV decided to end their internal war and rather cooperate going forward. The Saudi Arabian petroleum fund, which owns the LIV tour, is thereby effectively taking over control of golf’s further development, sportingly and commercially. And all the players who said no to fantasy sums to announce a transition from the traditional PGA tour to LIV for reasons of principle, are left disillusioned. LIV LAGA?: Yasir al-Rumayyan, the businessman who manages Saudi Arabia’s investment fund, in place on the LIV tour. Photo: AFP The fallen star Tiger Woods alone is said to have been offered over NOK 8 billion just to participate there. Our own star Viktor Hovland has also been offered huge sums to announce a transfer, but he too declined. Now these two and others who have protested against the manipulation of the Saudi Arabian regime no longer have a choice, absurdly enough. Despite the persistent protests from human rights organizations and from descendants after September 11, where Saudi Arabia allegedly supported the terrorists. Just one year after starting their own golf tournament, Saudi Arabia has effectively taken control of the entire sport. This necessarily adds flavor. To take over larger parts of football. Or simply take control of multiple sports, whether it’s tennis, boxing, Formula 1 or something else. As mentioned, this is about money. And the will to use them. The triumph of Manchester City in the Champions League will certainly seem like even stronger motivation. The new era For this is the first major triumph in the biggest and most prestigious sport for owners from the Arabian Peninsula. That’s how football stepped into a new era this Saturday night in Istanbul, when the world’s best club team finally won the world’s most important club team tournament. In isolation, they have also deserved it. Throughout the 15 years that Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour has been the owner, Manchester City have built themselves to ever new levels of sporting greatness under their Catalan manager Pep Guardiola. MOTIVATED: Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan (th) brought his brother Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (left), who is the president of the United Arab Emirates, to watch the Champions League final. Photo: AFP The questions about which methods have been used on the road still remain unanswered. Last winter, the Premier League came up with a list of 115 charges against the club. It can take years before a conclusion is reached. And it will never go so far as to deprive the club of any of the titles they have won in this period, which might have been the only thing that had made a real impression. The feeling that the states of the Arabian Peninsula are the new power base in international sport. And that the accusations of widespread human rights violations at home are becoming easier and easier to ignore. The cheers drown out everything. If you are not so thoughtless that you have ended up as a woman, homosexual or oppositional in one of the aforementioned states. Who governs the sport of golf and the world’s best football team. Copy and dystopia City did not become historical in Istanbul. They just copied. Until further. City’s last barrier was the Champions League. Now there are no further restrictions. 115 charges or not. In the new age, football teams gain respect and admiration. But not the unconditional love from the fans football was once built on. The football teams and their players have become products. Something you choose – and choose from when you want to move on. Loyalty is to the money and the opportunities, as the PGA and their boss Jay Monahan have shown to some extent this week. DOLLAR SIGNS IN THE EYES: Jay Monahan and the PGA have partnered with Saudi Arabian LIV. Photo: AFP This is the future of world sports. At a time when the City-loving Gallagher brothers have also promised to reunite their band Oasis in the triple-happy rush. It’s not enough to make anyone happy. But it also provides opportunities for a soundtrack for the future. Then it is up to the individual whether it should be Go let it out, Who feels love? or Don’t look back in regret. Football is dead. Live the new football. LAYING THE BALL DEAD: The Champions League final marked the turning point in football. Photo: Reuters
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