Inside Paul Pogba’s Saudi camel racing club Al Haboob
Last year Paul Pogba invested into the Al Haboob camel racing club in Saudi Arabia. Matt Hardy goes behind the scenes with its founders. Over 1,000 years ago the warring tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, eager to stake their claim to the region’s limited land with access to its surrounding seas and gulfs, used to [...]
Paul Pogba, the former Manchester United midfielder currently playing for Monaco, recently became a minority shareholder in the Al Haboob camel racing club in Saudi Arabia. This club aims to prove that camel racing is not just a traditional sport, but also a viable business. Camel racing has a rich history in the Arabian Peninsula, dating back over 1,000 years, when warring tribes would settle disputes by racing camels.
Today, the sport is dominated by royal families and aristocrats from the Gulf Cooperation Council region, with high-stakes meets attracting prize money in the tens of millions of Riyals.
Omar Almaeena and Safwan Modir, the founders of Al Haboob, are aiming to bring a new business perspective to the sport. They have enlisted Pogba's help to draw on his football fan base and provide the team with a stable of $5 million worth of star camels. The club's success has attracted sponsors such as oil giant Shell and national Gulf banks, thanks in part to Pogba's influence.
The sport has also seen a shift in reputation, with the UAE banning child jockeys in the early 2000s and fans now following the camels in cars instead of from hospitality stands.
Written by urgent.news from City AM's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
