Cristiano Ronaldo picked up a scarf in Saudi Arabian flag colors and waved it toward the thin but eager crowd that answered with loud cheers. The move showed resolve instead of celebration and captured the Saudi version of staying steady under pressure.

Monday evening's Asian Champions League Elite match between Al-Nassr and the Uzbek club Neftchi Fergana finished 3-1 for the Saudi side led by Ange Postecoglou. Ronaldo with help from Sadio Mane scored and the few star players on show illustrated the draw of the Saudi Pro League. Still this is not the Riyadh experience Ronaldo and others had pictured. The small crowd was one issue but the game itself was held up by warnings of missile strikes from Yemen's Houthi rebels. A safety notice came 15 minutes before kickoff just two days after Houthi attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid international airport killed 13 people and injured more than 300.

Saudi Arabia's plan to host football's Asian Cup in January and February is under review though the kingdom says preparations remain on schedule. Fast shifting geopolitics and fresh scrutiny of grand projects have changed the country's place in world sport from a year ago. Golf's Asian Tour has put next month's Saudi International on hold without a new date the urban cycling world championship in Riyadh next month is off the Fifa esports World Cup due to start on Friday is delayed and the Six Kings Slam tennis event set for next week has moved to late December.

Beyond the sharp reversal for LIV Golf the planned 2029 Saudi Winter Asian Games have shifted to Kazakhstan which has real snow covered peaks. In football five new stadiums proposed for the 2034 World Cup may not be built according to reports. One is the Neom stadium designed at 350 meters high after major cuts to the visionary Line city project.

Signs that not everything was as it seemed appeared in September last year. At a Washington DC investment forum the Newcastle chair Yasir al-Rumayyan in a suit and tie fitting the formal tone spoke to hedge fund leaders and entrepreneurs alongside private equity billionaire David Rubenstein.

Newcastle's Carabao Cup win was hardly discussed. Al-Rumayyan attended mainly as chair of Aramco the Saudi oil firm and governor of the Public Investment Fund the nation's biggest sovereign wealth fund. PIF is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the effective ruler of the kingdom who US intelligence says approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Al-Rumayyan paused between jokes that the outcome of his golf round with Donald Trump was a state secret to speak about history and the vital need for Saudi Arabia to move away from oil dependence.

Portugal once ranked among the world's richest nations thanks to its gold he said. That wealth became a problem. The crown prince often calls it the oil disease. Reliance on oil alone leads to inactivity. With a growing population new jobs are essential. Seventy five percent of Saudis are under 35. They deserve a good quality of life and employment. Dependence on a single resource must end to avoid errors made by other major powers.

The hidden risk al-Rumayyan pointed to is that idle young men in the land where Osama bin Laden was born could turn to radical Islam as the 15 Saudi nationals among the 9/11 attackers did. Now Houthi missiles and the US conflict with Iran may threaten carefully made Saudi plans.

If the war harms the regime's ability to create jobs then unrest could rise says Christopher Davidson author of From Sheikhs to Sultanism: Statecraft and Authority in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. When leaders fail to provide work for a large youth population the appeal of online radical messages grows stronger for young men.

LIV formed part of the leisure investment push and was al-Rumayyan's idea though the project reportedly cost PIF 6 billion pounds in losses. In the formal Washington setting golf came up and al-Rumayyan still spoke of uniting the sport and growing revenue shares six months before Saudi Arabia ended the LIV venture which sought bankruptcy protection in September.

Even then al-Rumayyan signaled that investors should offer more than returns and should support Saudi goals. From 2021 PIF had redirected funds toward domestic projects to build local content and attract foreign investment.

Newcastle fans can take comfort that the Premier League stake will likely remain despite spending cuts. Football appears protected because of the 2034 World Cup hosting says Davidson. PIF support for Newcastle should stay secure. Yet large spending sprees once hoped for will not occur as most supporters now understand. In the Saudi Pro League PIF sold a majority stake in Al-Hilal this year but still controls Al-Nassr Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli.

Pressure from the highest levels in Saudi Arabia is pushing PIF to trim costs and the war is speeding that focus on the domestic economy Davidson adds.

Boxing should endure if events can be held safely and esports a 38 billion dollar PIF area that keeps young men from extremism may expand. These need small budgets yet reach huge audiences Davidson notes.

A floating World Cup stadium desert skiing and futuristic cities are no longer priorities nor are costly foreign ventures like LIV. Trump's Republicans facing midterm struggles in the USA will influence Gulf states' sports choices Davidson says. LIV was viewed as tied to Trump's interests and that link may weaken if political trends shift.

The Saudi Pro League and 2034 World Cup remain priorities even with fewer stadiums. Success will depend on ending the US-Iran conflict and controlling Houthi rebels outcomes that likely did not feature in Ronaldo's talks when he joined Al-Nassr for his later career years in Saudi Arabia but now matter greatly.

PIF has been asked for comment.