Taxes in Saudi Arabia and the reason it costs so much for athletes like Jordan Henderson to return home
The number of well-known athletes that joined the Saudi Pro League last summer after departing from some of the top teams in Europe appeared to grow daily. Beginning with a multimillion-pound bid for Cristiano Ronaldo in December 2022, the summer of 2023 saw the expansion of the deal to include alluring offers for players such as Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino, Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves, and Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte.
and a plenty more.
Jordan Henderson is among them. While their head coach Steven Gerrard was utilizing his contacts to bring in players like Georginio Wijnaldum from Paris Saint-Germain and Demarai Gray from Everton, the former captain of Liverpool joined Al Ettifaq last July.
Henderson’s decision drew harsh criticism. Given that he had previously positioned himself as an advocate of the LGBTQ+ community and was now traveling to a nation where consenting same-sex actions are criminalized, others questioned it from a moral and ethical standpoint.
Some questioned it in terms of how it would affect their professional path. This athlete was still being chosen for international competition. A gamer is still being invited to appear on the greatest international stages for the game.
Why would he decide to play football for his team at a level so much below his capabilities?
Five weeks into his Saudi career, Henderson said in an interview with The Athletic, “I wanted something that would excite me.” “It had to be something where I thought I could contribute something new and try something different, like a new challenge, and for different reasons.”
After six months, a more compelling reason has taken Henderson’s “why” to the fore. a feeling of disappointment with his new lifestyle (as well as his family’s) and the encounters he’s been having on the field.
