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THE full repercussions of Saudi Arabia’s dismal opening performance against Russia in the World Cup Finals are still echoing across the region as the competition gears up for its second week of action.
Scores of fans from across the causeway gathered in tents around the island to break their Ramadan fast for one of the last times before the Eid weekend and instead of cheers the match ended in tears.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had to endure the humiliation in the stadium last Thursday, with Saudi Arabia’s mauling in Moscow coming at the hands of a side just below the Saudis in the FIFA rankings.
Saudi social media influencer Ali Nasser, 30, joined compatriots to watch the action on the big screen last Thursday evening at the Al Areen Palace & Spa’s Al Qasr Tent, and said: “We had high hopes of doing well in this game. Even when the first half ended with us 2-0 down we were still hopeful. When the third goal went in our hopes began to shatter and sadly it ended with the hosts scoring five. What can I say? It’s so sad, especially as it was the night we began our Eid celebrations. I’m upset … but what to do?”
It wasn’t just the boys who were disappointed. There were Saudi women in the Moscow crowd, draped in the nation’s flag and enthusiastically waving them. Some carried posters of the Crown Prince, who was sat next to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Reem Al Muteiry came to Moscow with her mother and siblings. Wearing a flowing robe and a hijab, the 25-year-old civil servant said: “I came all the way here for the sake of our national team. The presence of Saudi women here should be a source of pride for both the kingdom and the team.”
That may have been the case but on the field the aftermath now looks a lot messier. Saudi Arabia’s sports authorities have threatened to hold members of the national football team ‘accountable’ after their crushing defeat, as reported by our sister newspaper, The Gulf Daily News.
While no one considered Saudi Arabia to be contenders for the trophy, the result was ‘disappointing and unsatisfactory’, Adel Ezzat, president of the Saudi Football Federation, told Al Arabiya television.
A ‘number of players’ including goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayouf would be held accountable, he added. The team had been trained so they could rise to the occasion, Ezzat said. “The collapse was not because of fitness, but errors in passing the ball, technical errors,” he claimed.
Alongside the goalkeeper, Ezzat named two other players – defender Omar Hosawi and striker Mohammed Al Sahlawi – without specifying what action would be taken. It remains unclear what Ezzat meant by a ‘penalty’.
Saudi sports authority chief Turki Al Sheikh said he took ‘full responsibility’ for the defeat. But he also lashed out at the players. “We did everything for them ... we provided them the best coaching staff,” Al Sheikh said in a video posted on Twitter.
“Let no-one tell me (Argentinian coach Juan Antonio) Pizzi is not a known coach. But these are our players. They did not do give even five per cent of what was required of them. This is a reality that we should admit.”
This year is the first World Cup finals tournament Saudi Arabia has reached since 2006. Football’s global governing body ranked the team 67th in the world, ahead of Russia in 70th.
Head coach Pizzi took over the Saudi team in November last year after the football federation sacked Edgardo Bauza, a fellow Argentinian who had only been in charge for two months.
Off the pitch, there appears to be a move by the federation to have more influence in footballing matters with the creation of another bureaucratic institution within the sport.
On the face of it, the establishment of the South West Asian Football Federation (SWAFF) to help to develop the game, appears a benevolent undertaking, especially when the existing regional governing body is so vast.
“Football is about growth and if you don’t grow economically, socially, technically, you will not be moving,” Ezzat told The Associated Press. “It’s not enough for us to be in the World Cup Finals. We have a vision that an Asian country will win the World Cup one day, but there must be a start for that. Football is underdeveloped in many areas in Asia.
“It will help Asia and it will help FIFA. We don’t see anything wrong creating that connection between the south and the west. Football needs to grow. It’s not about the geographic map. It’s about zones.”
Ezzat wants to create new football competitions under the auspices of SWAFF and invite countries to participate from beyond the region - particularly Europe.
“The country is going through an important change,” he added. “Football can be a catalyst for change. The FIFA president I’m sure knows this very well. My country can play an important role in football.”
Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation since 2013, said he ‘had no objection’ to the creation of SWAFF as long as it remains as a football body outside of the AFC’s zonal structure’.
SWAFF says it has followed the right legal steps to avoid breaching the rules of world football’s governing body. Founding members also include Bahrain, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Yemen and Kuwait. Oman Football Association General Secretary, Said Othman Al Bulushi, said his nation was waiting to assess the statutes and legality of the body within FIFA before confirming its membership.
Iran and Qatar are not in it. Ezzat won’t discuss Qatar, or the 2022 World Cup. Al-Sheikh, has been less circumspect, demanding earlier this year that Qatar be stripped of the hosting rights if corruption around its bid was proven.
Other footballing asides, Qatar’s flagship TV network, which owns exclusive Middle East and North African rights to the World Cup, discovered its coverage of the Russia World Cup opener was watched across Saudi Arabia on a pirate channel, beoutQ.
Soccer’s world body has intervened. FIFA said it is ‘exploring all options to stop the infringement of its rights, including in relation to action against legitimate organisations that are seen to support such illegal activities’.
And, what a difference a game can make. Millions of Russians have listened to and laughed at a song deriding their football team, but the side’s thumping win over Saudi Arabia has suddenly filled them with pride and hope.
The national team had until Thursday not won a single match since last October and has long been derided by many Russians.
The margin of their victory over the Saudis and the flair some of the Russian players showed on the pitch, however, has triggered an outpouring of national pride and the start of what looks like a re-evaluation of Russia’s team.
GulfWeekly’s Russian World Cup reader, Yaroslav Levin, attache and head of the ambassador’s office in the Russian Embassy in Manama, was delighted with the team’s performance. Last week he predicted that midfielder Aleksandr Golovin would shine in the tournament.
The 22-year-old playmaker from CSKA Moscow, started the Russian party in the 12th minute when he picked out the head of Yuri Gazinskiy with a pinpoint cross from the left wing and provided the final flourish when he curled a superb free-kick beyond Abdullah Al-Mayoof with the final act of the game.
