Why are our players choosing Qatar over other Arab national leagues these days?

[Afat11]

I think I understand why the players are not joining the UAE league, because of their disrespectful name. K00ni Gulf League or whatever they called it.

Still, I remember that in the mid-2000's we had players in other oil-rich Arab leagues, like Saudi league. Is there a reason why Qatar is now the destination in the Middle East for our players? I do hate the fact that any of our players go to these sh*t leagues, but I'm just curious as to why this trend started.

I have heard the rumor that Qatar was just buying our players because we keep running into them in AC and WCQ, but at this point, we have half of TM in that country's league. Any thoughts on why only Qatar League wants our players, while the other Arabs don't really buy our players anymore? It's strange to me that Qatar is the destination for our players over the other Arabs.

[Amin_]

Who played in Saudi Arabia then?!

[Babak agha]

Who played in Saudi Arabia then?!

Arash washi

[ShiroKhorshid]

I actually think we have never had a player in Saudi League.. At least not in the past 15 years.
I only remember Karimi had an offer from a Saudi team (Al Ittihad?) after he left Bayern but he joined Qatar SC instead.

[Afat11]

Who played in Saudi Arabia then?!

I am mistaken. I just googled what I was thinking. I thought Golmohammadi had played for Al Hilal in the mid-2000's but apparently that was just a rumored transfer back then that never materialized. Still, my question is why the other Arab leagues don't really have any of our players, but Qatar has more than a fair share.

[Ab-Gosht]

I actually think we have never had a player in Saudi League.. At least not in the past 15 years.
I only remember Karimi had an offer from a Saudi team (Al Ittihad?) after he left Bayern but he joined Qatar SC instead.

mehdi shiri played in saudi he was a good player.

in uae we used to have a lot of players but then politics took over. leaves only qatar left out of all the countries

[Afat11]

mehdi shiri played in saudi he was a good player.

in uae we used to have a lot of players but then politics took over. leaves only qatar left out of all the countries

I personally hope to never see this, but aren't Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, and a few other countries fairly oil-rich? I personally dislike Qatar as much as Saudis, or UAE, so I don't understand why our players are cool to play in Qatar and not the others. I don't want our players in Saudi, I just don't get why they are in one and not the other. They all seem the same to me. Qatar is no better than Saudi in my mind.

[Ab-Gosht]

I personally hope to never see this, but aren't Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, and a few other countries fairly oil-rich? I personally dislike Qatar as much as Saudis, or UAE, so I don't understand why our players are cool to play in Qatar and not the others. I don't want our players in Saudi, I just don't get why they are in one and not the other. They all seem the same to me. Qatar is no better than Saudi in my mind.

bro. first of all they only have offers from qatar. 2nd of all none of the other countries even pay as much as they get in iran why should they play in oman then?

[CAGE]

mehdi shiri played in saudi he was a good player.

in uae we used to have a lot of players but then politics took over. leaves only qatar left out of all the countries

Which season did Mehdi Shiri play for saudi league?
1999–03 Bargh Division 2 3 - - - -
2003-04 Esteghlal Ahvaz 17 0 - -
2004-05 Esteghlal 13 0 - -
2005-06 Bargh 27 4 - -
2006-07 Saba Battery 19 0 - -
2007-09 Bargh 32 5 3 0 - - 35 5 20 5 - -
2009-13 Persepolis 14 0 2 0 - - 16 0 0 2 0 14 0
2013-14 Esteghlal Ahvaz Division 2

[Zamboor]

well its simpel, the one nation in that region that are spending all their money in sports to do everything to become a world power is qatar. not only in football in all sports.

in 2020 you will see hockey world cup final with Qatar vs Russia or qatar vs canada

[Nariman]

well its simpel, the one nation in that region that are spending all their money to buy players around the world to do everything to become a world power is qatar. not only in football in all sports.

in 2020 you will see hockey world cup final with World XI vs Russia or World XI vs canada

Fixed it for you.

[Rooyintan]

It's not new. Back in the 1980s-Early 1990s so many of our footballers played in Qatar: Ghasempour, Barzegari, Changiz, Ghalenoei, Namjoo-Motlaq, Bayani brothers, Nasser Mohammadkhani, Hamid Derakhshan, Piyous, Ghayeghran, Kermani-Moghaddam and many others. In my opinion this is what lures Iranian footballers to Qatar:
1. Money
2. Peace of Mind (they're not chased by the Media like in Iran, UAE, Europe, etc)
3. Proximity to Iran
4. Out of all Persian Gulf's Arab countries Qatar together with Iraq and Oman have good relations with Iran, the rest are either enemies or have cold relations.

Downside to playing in Qatar league is that our footballers won't and are not able to improve themselves skill and strategy wise.

Hey in 1970s, early 1980s and 1990s, Kuwait and UAE were also popular destination for Iranian footballers.

[yashar_fasihnia]

it seems to me UAE has stopped allowing iranian players to play for UAE clubs. at the same time, Qatar has started investing more in football and hiring more legionnaires from all around the world. moreover, with UAE stopping iranian players (this is just my belief), the dalals needed another market to earn their bread and Qatar is the only rich country available as an option

[Leopard]

probably due to air conditioned fields...

[CAGE]

Mehdi shiri did not play in saudi league, none of our players did...