Saudi Arabia's football club Al-Hilal has officially announced on Monday that the team will withdraw from the 2025/26 Saudi Super Cup, which is set to be hosted by the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) from August 19 to August 23.
Risk in breaching the contract
The team, which just welcomed new signing Theo Hernandez, said the Saudi Super Cup draw came just a day after the team's opening group-stage match at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States against Spanish club Real Madrid.
Adding that the last match for the team at the Club World Cup was just finished on July 4, which was followed by a three-day flight delay in Orlando, and resulted in not enough days off for the players' off-season if the team has to participate in the Saudi Super Cup.
In a statement, the Saudi club, which has Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly and Portuguese wingback Joao Cancelo, explained that players' international duties and the club's participation in the Club World Cup caused players to be extremely tired, increasing risk of injuries.
Their Saudi Super Cup participation may face contract issues, as federation rules require 28 days off between seasons, and traveling to Hong Kong would cut that to 21, the statement said.
In addition, Al Hilal has indicated that the arrangement will cause the players' annual leave to overlap with the pre-season training, forcing the teams to delay their preparation for the new season and affecting the competitiveness.
The club criticized SAFF for failing to mention that the Super Cup would be held in Hong Kong until Jun 13, in when the team was already in the United States.
The five-time Super Cup winner also emphasized that several key players have been assessed as suffering from extreme fatigue after a year-long season and national team duties, which may affect their national team's training in preparation for the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in October.
SAFF: Al-Ahli to replace Al-Hilal
SAFF has issued a statement confirming that Hilal will be withdrawing from the Saudi Super Cup, while the Federation is engaging with the current AFC Elite League champion Al-Ahli Saudi FC, which is ranked 5th in Saudi Arabia's league, to replace Al Hilal to compete in the Saudi Super Cup.
Speculations began to spread in Saudi Arabian media earlier this month, indicating that Al Hilal plans to withdraw from the Cup due to its tight schedule, while the Hong Kong organizer released a statement denying the rumors last week.
Regarding ticket arrangements, the organizer of the Saudi Super Cup stated that if a participating team fails to visit Hong Kong and SAFF arranges another team to participate in the event, fans with tickets can choose either to refund their tickets or continue to enjoy the make-up match with the tickets.
(Nathan Leung and Michael Shum)
(Updated at 10.17pm)
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