 "Football star Paul Pogba and camel racing: What’s driving football’s biggest left-field investment?")
Paul Pogba may have recently returned to the football pitch after serving a doping ban, but his focus is firmly fixed on after-football life. On Wednesday, it was announced that 2018 World Cup winner, Pogba, has become the first professional footballer to invest in camel racing.
French footballer Pogba, who has played for Manchester United and Juventus in the past, has invested in a racing team named Al Haboob, which is based in Saudi Arabia. Al Haboob claims to be the world’s first professional camel racing team, taking part in competitions across the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf.
Why is Pogba investing in camel racing?
Apart from the obvious commercial or recreation purposes, Pogba said he wants to make camel racing mainstream.
“I’ve always been someone who wants to try new things and do things differently – whether it’s how I play, how I express myself, or how I approach life off the pitch. That mindset has followed me into my business world, too,” he said.
“Owning the world’s most expensive camel one day would be a beautiful full-circle moment – something fun, something meaningful and something that excites me,” he told the BBC. “Maybe one day we make it happen.”
He added that he wants to “elevate the sport on to a global stage”.
Pogba also revealed that the decision to invest in camel racing came to him after watching the races.
“I’ve watched my fair share of races on YouTube and spent time doing research in my spare time trying to understand the techniques and strategies,” he said. “And what stood out to me is how much dedication it takes from everyone involved. At the end of the day, sport is sport. It demands heart, sacrifice and teamwork.”
For the unversed, camel racing is an expensive sport. Top camels are sold for millions of pounds and top competitions could have prize money of close to $5-7 million.
On the footballing side, Pogba played his first match in two years in November 2025 for AS Monaco in Ligue 1.
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