With Al-Khelaifi at rank 1, here is the list of 50 most powerful influencers in world football

Nasir Jabbar

In a formal report out last month, France Football has drawn up the Top 50 most powerful people in the soccer world, topped by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the President of Paris Saint-Germain Football Club and Chairman of beIN MEDIA GROUP.

Al-Khelaifi tops the list ahead of Ronaldo, Infantino, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and super-agent Jorge Mendes.

The list of 50 are not necessarily the people who shout loudest or make the most fuss, but more those whose decisions carry the most weight, including the inevitable leaders of clubs and institutions, fearsome and insatiable agents, star players with huge followings, all-powerful and all-knowing coaches, businessmen whose voices are increasingly heard and politicians who are increasingly present.

In world soccer, Nasser Al-Khelaifi ranks at the top of the most powerful people because of the unique reach of his influence. He is a club president (PSG), a broadcasting chairman (beIN MEDIA GROUP) with 55 million subscribers; as well as a minister without portfolio in Qatar, which will organize the next FIFA World Cup in 2022.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi joined PSG nine years ago, transforming the organization into a truly international brand growing the club’s fan base, including seeing an increase in its digital following – from 500,000 in 2011, to more than 87 million today.

With this honorary distinction, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, reserved as always, did not belabor the point in France Football: “Power for power’s sake – the obsessive search for the spotlight – it’s just pure vanity.”

Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, Barcelona captain Lionel Messi, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, US women’s star Megan Rapinoe and Swiss Justice make up the top ten.

The likes of Pep Guardiola, Kylian Mbappe, Raheem Sterling, Pierluigi Collina and David Beckham also earn a spot on the list.

The 50 most powerful influencers in world football:

1. Nasser Al-Khelaifi (PSG president)

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)

3. Gianni Infantino (FIFA president)

4. Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

5. Jorge Mendes (Agent)

6. Andrea Agnelli (Juventus president)

7. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

8. Florentino Perez (Real Madrid president)

9. Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign)

10. Swiss Justice

11. Brian Roberts (CEO of Comcast)

12. Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)

13. Aleksander Ceferin (UEFA president)

14. Adidas-Nike

15. Richard Masters (Premier League chief executive)

16. Neymar Jr. (PSG)

17. Mino Raiola (Agent)

18. Zinédine Zidane (Real Madrid)

19. XI Jinping (Chinese president)

20. Kylian Mbappé (PSG)

21. Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Manchester City owner)

22. Christian Seifert (Bundesliga president)

23. Pini Zahavi (Agent)

24. Wang Jianlin (Founder of Dalian Wanda Group, 15% owner at Atletico Madrid)

25. Andrew Wilson (EA Sports’ CEO)

26. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

27. Stephen Ross (American property magnet, owner of Miami Dolphins)

28. Salman al-Khalifa (Prince of Bahrain, Asian Football Confederation president)

29. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich president)

30. Chung Mong Gyu (Football Association of Korea president, member of FIFA Council)

31. Pierluigi Collina (Former referee)

32. Victor Montagliani (CONCACAF president)

33. Jonathan Barnett (Agent)

34. FIFPro (Players’ Union)

35. Sharon Thorne (Chair of the Deloitte Global Board of Directors)

36. Ahmad Ahmad (African Football Confederation president)

37. Viktor Zubkov (Gazprom chairman)

38. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

39. Xavi Hernández (Al-Sadd coach)

40. Hiroshi Mikitani (CEO of Rakuten, Vissel Kobe president)

41. Jonathan Wilson (Journalist)

42. Alex Green (Entrepreneur)

43. Didier Drogba (Former footballer)

44. Mario Gallavotti (FIFA lawyer)

45. David Beckham (Former footballer, Inter Miami president and co-owner)

46. Hassan Al-Thawadi (2022 World Cup committee leader)

47. Rui Pinto (Creator of Football Leaks)

48. Jean-Michel Aulas (Lyon president)

49. Khalida Popal (Activist)

50. Ballon d’Or

(Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He’s a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato.)