Tijjani Reijnders has spoken to Algemeen Dagblad about his transfer from Manchester City to Saudi Arabia. Sjoerd Mossou asked him, among other things, about the position of women in that country.
Reijnders, 28, completed a €50 million move from Manchester City to Al-Qadsiah last summer and has made an excellent start to the season in Saudi Arabia.
He has already scored three times in six official matches for the club. Al-Qadsiah sit fourth on 16 points from seven matches in the Saudi Pro League.
Even so, Reijnders says he is not planning to spend the rest of his career in Saudi Arabia. "My ambition is to also have some great years on the European pitches later on."
The Zwolle-born midfielder had already admitted his decision to join Al-Qadsiah was driven mainly by money. "I can set my grandchildren up well. I didn’t want to let that opportunity pass me by," he told AD again. "We can act like moral crusaders, but you don’t say no to these amounts."
Mossou also asked Reijnders about the standard of the Saudi Pro League. "Higher than the Eredivisie. Slightly lower than Serie A. People in the Netherlands won’t like that, but that’s how I see it."
He then asked about the position of women in Saudi Arabia. According to Amnesty International, women and girls in Saudi Arabia still face deeply rooted discrimination and legal subordination to men.
"Of course I can’t judge the whole picture, but personally I notice little of women having no say there," Reijnders began his answer. "We live on a very quiet compound, I should add. That is relatively western, because a lot of expats and footballers live there too. I have the feeling that women in Saudi Arabia have quite a lot of say. Of course I can’t oversee everything, but we ourselves have a positive impression," he concluded.