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Amira Khalil

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PUBLISHED BY ICN PRESS

  • Saudi Arabia’s sports ministry has begun moving 25 percent stakes in Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr to the Public Investment Fund.
  • The non-profit foundations that held those shares will have their boards dissolved. No price was disclosed.
  • This step is phase two of a transfer designed to make the clubs easier to sell to outside investors.
  • Al Hilal is already partly spoken for, with Kingdom Holding Company agreeing in April to take 70 percent for SAR840 million.

When PIF acquires Saudi football club stakes, the change reaches the stands well before it shows up on a balance sheet. Saudi Arabia’s sports ministry said in a social media post that it has begun moving 25 percent of the shares held by non-profit foundations in Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr to the Public Investment Fund. Regulatory steps are complete. The boards of those foundations will be dissolved. No price was disclosed, and the ministry framed the step as the second phase of an ownership transfer meant to make the four clubs easier for outside money to buy into.

Those foundations were built by club members. Some served for years, running elections, handling club affairs, carrying the identity of a club from one generation to the next. That role now ends. If you support one of these four teams, the people who used to speak for you inside the boardroom no longer sit there.

The PIF ownership stake and what it replaces

Regional and Saudi outlets report the fund already held 75 percent of the four clubs after the first phase in 2023, with the remaining quarter parked with each foundation. Folding in that quarter hands the fund the whole company. The second time PIF acquires Saudi football club stakes, the terms look cleaner than the first, because a single owner is far simpler to sell than a split one.

Al Hilal ownership shows where this goes. In April, the fund agreed to sell 70 percent of the club to Kingdom Holding Company, the investment firm founded by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, for SAR840 million, around $224 million. Before that, in July 2025, US venture firm Harburg Group bought Al-Kholood Club and became the first foreign owner in the league.

Saudi Pro League privatisation moves club by club

Saudi Pro League privatisation started as a formal programme in 2024, covering 14 clubs. Teams across the top tier have since moved to owners backed by sovereign money or private capital. Each deal follows the same shape. Convert the club into a company, tighten the governance, then find a buyer who wants the brand.

Ibrahim AlMoaiqel, assistant deputy minister for investment and privatisation, told a London forum in June that 11 club transactions had closed with two more underway, and more than 40 local and international investors had registered interest, according to reporting by Enterprise KSA. Five further clubs went on offer the same month.

What happens next after PIF acquires Saudi football club stakes

The logic behind all of it sits inside the Saudi Vision 2030 sports sector plan, which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman set out to widen the economy beyond oil. Sport and entertainment carry part of that weight. The 2034 World Cup, which Saudi Arabia is preparing to host, tightens the clock, since a club bought today should be worth more once the league grows ahead of the tournament.

Each time PIF acquires Saudi football club stakes, the fund edges closer to handing the clubs over completely. What arrives with the new owners is harder to read. Budgets have tightened across the league, and Enterprise KSA reports transfer spending this summer sits far below the 2023 peak, when Saudi clubs pulled stars out of Europe at speed.

So the shares move, the paperwork clears, and the boardroom empties out. For the crowd in the stands, the real question is who walks in next.

TAGS
  • Capital, Investments, PIF, Saudi Arabia, Sports

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Open the Duo and the inner display runs 50 percent larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max. A custom nano-texture finish cuts glare and hides the crease, the seam that has annoyed foldable owners for years. Peak brightness reaches 3000 nits, so the screen stays readable outdoors. Inside, an under-display FaceTime camera keeps the view whole, with no notch breaking the screen. The rear camera leans on a 48MP Dual Fusion system with a main and an ultra-wide lens. There is no telephoto, a trade Apple made to save room in the thin body. Smart Take reads the scene and snaps the photo when everyone poses, so you can stand in the shot instead of behind it. You can also shoot 48MP photos and 4K video at up to 120 frames per second.

iPhone Duo specs that matter for daily use

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iPhone Duo prices are ridiculously high

Here is the part your wallet cares about. The iPhone Duo price starts at $1,999 for 256GB in the United States, which makes it the most expensive iPhone in the lineup. In the UAE, iPhone Duo starts at AED 8,499 for the 256 GB, AED 9,349 for the 512 GB, AED 11,049 for the 1 TB, and the laptop-price level of AED 13,599 for the 2 TB. Preorders open October 16, and the iPhone Duo release date lands on October 23. Apple plans a first wave across more than 70 countries, then adds 28 more on October 30. For comparison, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts near $1,899.

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Apple waited years while Samsung and others sold foldables. Now the foldable iPhone brings iOS 27 features built for two screens, like Split View and apps that respond to how you hold the phone. eSIM handles the connection, since there is no SIM tray anywhere. Apple Pencil support arrives later in 2026. That gap of a few weeks after the iPhone 18 Pro points to a slower, careful rollout for a harder build. If you have wanted a phone that turns into a small tablet without feeling clumsy, this is Apple’s answer, and you can hold one this month.

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The Work from Park initiative puts bookable workspaces inside Dubai’s public parks, starting with Al Barsha Pond Park. Dubai Municipality announced the programme on 19 April 2026 and said it had signed two memoranda of cooperation to deliver it. One went to Group AMANA, which builds the units, and the other to Letswork LLC, which operates them.

Entrepreneurs, freelancers, small and medium-sized enterprises

The structure is a public-private partnership. Dubai Municipality provides the park and the mandate. Private firms handle design, construction, and daily operation. The municipality said the model gives the private sector a route into public facilities while each site keeps its role as a park.

Target users are entrepreneurs, freelancers, small and medium-sized enterprises, and anyone doing remote work in Dubai. Content creators get dedicated production rooms, which the municipality said are meant to strengthen their place in the emirate’s creative economy.

Letswork runs the booking side. Users reserve space through the Letswork app, check in on arrival and use one membership across the company’s network of venues. The offer covers desks by the hour, event space, podcast recording and production rooms for creators. Letswork will also run training programmes and group sessions for creative talent and new businesses.

How the Work from Park initiative is built

Group AMANA delivers the first site through its DuBox unit. DuBox builds the workspace modules in a factory, then transports them to the park and assembles them on site. The municipality said this shortens the build schedule, reduces waste and lowers the environmental footprint compared with conventional construction. Units can be reconfigured later as demand shifts.

The Al Barsha Pond Park site was scheduled to open in May 2026. Letswork now lists it as a bookable venue on its platform. The listing describes modular pods with high-speed Wi-Fi, power and climate-controlled seating, plus podcast studios and creative production rooms. Members can book day passes, meeting rooms and private offices under one Letswork membership.

Dubai Municipality said the Work from Park initiative would add more sites across the emirate later in 2026. Locations and opening dates for those have yet to be confirmed.

Bader Anwahi, CEO of the Public Facilities Agency at Dubai Municipality, said the partnerships combine advanced construction methods with private sector expertise to produce public infrastructure “that is flexible, sustainable, and aligned with modern lifestyles and work patterns.”

Richard Abboud, CEO of Group AMANA, said modular construction lets the company build efficient, adaptable units at speed.

Why the Work from Park initiative fits Dubai’s planning goals

The programme sits under three policy frameworks. Dubai’s 2040 Parks and Greenery Strategy targets 95 million park visits a year by 2040. Land use falls under the Dubai Urban Plan 2040. Economic targets through 2033 come from the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

Omar AlMheiri, co-founder of Letswork, said the partnership would add dedicated creative spaces and podcast studios. He described it as a step toward changing where and how people in the UAE do flexible work.

Dubai Municipality describes the Work from Park initiative as the first of its kind. Existing Dubai coworking spaces operate from office towers, hotels and retail sites. This programme moves the format onto municipal parkland, with the municipality as host and a private platform as operator.

Outdoor workspaces in Dubai face one obvious constraint: summer heat. The Letswork listing addresses this with climate-controlled seating inside the pods. Demand across a full year of operation will show whether the format holds. The second site, once announced, will be the next signal of how fast the municipality intends to scale.

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