JEDDAH, 12 February 2007 — The president of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare, Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, upheld the decisions and recommendations made by the Saudi Football Federation’s disciplinary committee after a meeting in the aftermath of the incident-marred Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup final match, which Al-Ahli won against Al-Ittihad 3-0 on Friday.
The disciplinary action against Ittihad included having their one home match moved outside of Jeddah, which is the upcoming match against Hilal this Friday. The Saudi league match will be played in Riyadh. The Ittihad fans threw debris at the sideline referee in protest against the team’s performance and in objection to the referee’s decision. The match was stopped more than once and officials and Ittihad players tried to calm the crowd down.
The committee also suspended the Brazilian player Fangar two matches for planting an elbow on Muhammad Mussad in the 58th minute of the match. The elbow was not seen by the field referee but was recorded on tape and reviewed by the committee after the match.
The third decision issued was to suspend the assistant coach of Ittihad two matches for shouting insults at the referee.
Also, while Ittihad were punished for unsportsmanlike display and bad behavior Ahli team captain Khaled Badra was reprimanded for his overbearing attitude. After he scored the penalty and the third goal for Ahli, Badra headed toward Ittihad crowd and taunted them. He then took off one of his shoes on the field and placed it over his head in mock surrender.
The SFF urged all teams to obey the rules and regulations under pain of punishment from the federation.
Meantime, Ittihad fans welcomed the disciplinary committee’s decision to lift the ban on Muhammad Nur saying that it came at the right time when Ittihad needed a leader on the field. Nur was suspended for one year for spitting on a Hilal player. Nur was suspended from playing local league matches but was allowed to play in international competitions.
Muhsin Al-Shibani, strong Ittihad supporter, said that the decision to ban Muhammad Nur was an injustice from the beginning. He said that the decision to lift the ban came on time and that it made many Ittihad fans happy. He said, “In my opinion I believe that the Saudi Football Federation is coming down hard on Ittihad club. We are happy that the ban is lifted but Ittihad is forced to play a crucial match away from home. Nevertheless, we are happy and now that Nur is back, all other teams should notice the difference between Ittihad in the past and the new Ittihad. There is this chemistry between Nur and the Ittihad coach. The UAE team was very lucky that Nur was not playing in the Gulf Cup.”
