In the corridors of the eternal dilemma... when the administrative cover disappears and sporting injustice arrives in full force. And between the halls of the Saudi Football Federation and its various committees, the issue of "local refereeing" remains the eternal dilemma that refuses to turn its pages or find a radical solution that restores stability to the green rectangle.

It is a loop that has long seemed the weakest and most trivial in a sports system that accepts continuous and systematic questioning of integrity and consciences. It is a broad question, indeed a cry of truth, that imposes itself strongly on the sports discussion table: Who brought down the Saudi referee?

A question that inevitably drags us to many failures and fragile administrations that removed the judge of Saudi stadiums from the spotlight, making him the shock of the bitter truth by being the least representative regionally, continentally, and globally of Saudi football, after missing the World Cup and major forums where the Saudi whistle was once a name associated with leadership and excellence.

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Illusionary Treatment: When Hasty Solutions Make Matters Worse!

The Saudi Football Federation did not stand idly by in the face of this decline; there is continuous movement, and experiments jumping here and there that are supposed to be reformative and corrective. However, the astute observer clearly sees that this movement has mostly come in negative forms that deepened the wounds instead of healing them. Perhaps the most prominent evidence of this confusion is those decisions related to raising fees for recruiting foreign referees; in a forced and unstudied attempt to reduce their presence, and give the local referee more room to appear in the Roshn Saudi League rounds, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, in addition to imposing his presence in the Saudi Super Cup.

But these formal measures never helped the local whistle; on the contrary, they increased its burdens and doubled the immense pressures placed on its shoulders, in the absence of a fertile and healthy environment for real success, making the referee seem as if he is fighting raging waves without a boat or paddle.

Roots of the Crisis: Administrative Weakness, Undervaluation of Efforts, and Overt Selectivity

The most important reasons for the failure of the Saudi referee and the decline in his levels cannot under any circumstances be reduced to a fleeting technical mistake here or a hasty judgmental decision there; rather, the real roots of the crisis manifest and entrench themselves in several key junctions. The fragility of the federation and the absence of an umbrella: The clear and blatant inability of the Saudi Football Federation to withstand the power of popular and big clubs, and its repeated abandonment of its original role in protecting referees from the torrents of massive fan abuse and systematic media campaigns run day and night on satellite channels and social media platforms.

Undervaluation of efforts and lack of motivation: The huge gap between the massive psychological and physical pressures placed on the referee and the financial support provided to him.

Current rewards lack a real proportionality with the capabilities and risks of the profession, in addition to the absence of a strategy to raise these rewards and motivate them exceptionally and rewardingly for those who provide satisfactory and consistent levels. Selectivity of the Referees Committee: The negative and frustrating role of the Referees Committee, which has fallen into the trap of selectivity on many occasions; it analyzes cases according to the mood of the sports public and fan pressures, and ignores other cases with complete coldness, causing referees to lose confidence in their technical reference.

The Safe Way Out: Towards Full Independence and Decisive Sports Justice

The current dominance, continuous interventions, and rotation of positions without institutional thinking make cosmetic reform a hopeless effort. Perhaps the radical and true rescuing solution for the whistle lies in a bold and courageous step: completely separating the Referees Committee from the Football Federation, and placing it under the umbrella of the Saudi Olympic Committee to work as an independent judicial committee, away from the pressures of clubs and the whims of the stands. This hoped-for independence should be accompanied and crowned by the establishment of a specialized and firm legal committee that sets a decisive and strict legal limit for anyone who dares to harm the persons of referees and question their integrity and the integrity of their families. Protecting the dignity and reputation of the referee is the first and fundamental step to ensure a pure work environment that fully restores the standing of the Saudi whistle and places it again in its natural place locally, continentally, and globally.