Paul Pogba has invested in a Saudi Arabian camel racing team called Al Haboob, becoming both a shareholder and ambassador for the project.
The Monaco midfielder said he has watched camel racing on YouTube and studied the sport, adding that it requires dedication, teamwork and strategy, just like football.
Camel racing is a traditional sport that is especially popular in the Middle East and the Gulf region. Pogba said sport connects people across cultures and that the same values apply, whether it is football, boxing or camel racing.
Pogba also joked that after becoming the world’s most expensive footballer when he joined Manchester United from Juventus in 2016 for £89m, he would love to one day own the world’s most expensive camel.
Al Haboob, founded by Omar Almaeena and Safwan Modir, is described as the world’s first professional camel racing team to compete internationally.
Pogba recently returned to football with Monaco in November after an 18-month doping ban, which was reduced from four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He said the banned substance entered his system by mistake through a supplement he did not know contained it.
