Hussein Al-Sadiq, the Saudi national team manager, made a big surprise about the scenes of the players’ crisis with the Italian coach, Roberto Mancini, before the start of the 2023 Asian Cup.
The director of the Saudi national team accused Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Muhammad Maran, Ali Hazazi, Salman Al-Faraj and Khaled Al-Ghannam of rebelling against participating with the national team before the tournament.
Based on the accusation made by the national team director, the Professionalism Committee decided to impose strict penalties on the players, including suspensions and financial fines.
Commenting on the decisions of the Professionalism Committee, Hussein Al-Sadiq, director of the Saudi national team, said: “At the beginning, we must clarify that all of Mancini’s meetings with the players are audio and video recorded.”
He added: “The national team is not begging the player, and I do not want to be prejudiced against the players more than that. A player who does not want to play in the national team is better for him to leave than for him to be there.”
Regarding the Salman Al-Faraj incident, he said: “Salman Al-Faraj informed me in October that he did not want to join the Saudi national team, and I asked him to retire from international football, but he remained silent and did not respond.”
As for Al-Aqidi, he said: “The goalkeeping coach informed Mancini that Nawaf Al-Aqidi refused to remain in the Saudi national team camp, and therefore his departure was approved and he was excluded from the list.”
Al-Sadiq added: “There is a vivid example before the tournament. Renard met with Ali Al-Bulaihi and was informed that Al-Nasr defender Abdullah Madu would be the main player in the formation. Al-Bulaihi replied to the coach, saying, “I am at your disposal.”
Regarding Mohamed Maran, he said: “Mancini informed Mohamed Maran that the list would be announced on January 2, but the player was the one who decided to leave the camp after that, even though the coach wanted him to be there.”
He continued: “Mancini does not scream a lot, but he does a lot of actions. For example, after the team’s first four friendlies, he informed the players of his dissatisfaction with the level, and he was calm.”
Regarding the Salem Al-Dosari crisis, he said: “Mancini blamed Salem for giving Redeef the penalty kick, but Salem justified it because he saw Redeef’s enthusiasm for scoring a goal with the national team.”
He ended his speech by responding to the rumors of Mancini’s salary, saying: “Mancini’s salary with Al-Akhdar is not true as it is reported in the media. There are two coaches in the Rushen League whose salaries are higher than Mancini’s and no one talked about that.”
2024-02-12 21:43:53
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