It also is supporting an offer worth as much as $25 billion to acquire the rights to FIFA’s Club World Cup and to create a separate competition for national teams. The proposal has split the leaders of major governing bodies in soccer, some of whom have protested Saudi support for the piracy of multimillion-dollar rights contracts owned by Qatar’s beIN Sports.

The journalists’ union for the Italian state broadcaster RAI, which will air the Super Cup in Italy, said last month that it was “absurd and unacceptable” that the game would go ahead in light of the October killing of Mr. Khashoggi, which United States intelligence officials have concluded took place on the orders of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Sports leaders have been walking a diplomatic tightrope since the killing. In October, for example, Avram Glazer, the American co-owner of the English Premier League soccer club Manchester United, was one of the many business and political leaders to pull out of a high-profile investment conference in Riyadh — though Mr. Glazer did attend another event in the country, for Prince Mohammed’s foundation, a few weeks later. Manchester United has earned millions from its relationship with Saudi Arabia through sponsorships and other agreements.

Last month, the world’s top-ranked men’s tennis player, Novak Djokovic, confirmed that a scheduled exhibition match against Rafael Nadal later this month in Jidda had been postponed. Mr. Djokovic cited Mr. Nadal’s ankle injury as the reason for the cancellation, but both players had come under growing pressure to withdraw after Mr. Khashoggi’s murder.

And on Dec. 8, beIN’s chief executive, Yousef Al-Obaidly, wrote a two-page letter, which was seen by The New York Times, to Serie A’s general director, Marco Brunelli, also protesting the fact that the Super Cup game would be played in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Al-Obaidly’s frustration lies with beoutQ, a piracy operation that is seemingly based in the kingdom and that was set up in the aftermath of a blockade of Qatar led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. BeoutQ continues to broadcast premium sports content — including Serie A matches — illegally, and beIN noted that it has committed about $500 million to broadcast the Italian league games.