Hilalian or 'Nasrawian': Will the Next Saudi Football Federation President Dare to Sign the 'Pledge'?

2026-07-04T09:02:58.123Z

The article calls for not repeating the previous administrative model in the Saudi Football Federation, stressing that the problem is not in individuals but in reproducing the same mechanisms that have proven limited effectiveness at a historic stage of billion-dollar support and great ambitions. It warns against putting forward names known for bias and incitement to lead the system, calling...

They say in management and planning books that if you want different results, do not repeat the same experiments. In our local sports scene, we do not need complex theories to understand this rule, but only a little insight as we stand today on the platform of a new phase, waiting for someone to steer the helm of the Saudi Football Federation while everyone watches. Let us speak clearly, without embellishment; the real problem was never in Mr. Yasser Al-Mishal as a person—the man strived, was right and wrong, and has his share of credit and blame—but the deeper problem is the feasibility of repeating the same experience. The big question echoing in the walls of silence now is: Will our understanding of the lesson prevent us from reproducing the same previous administrative version but in a new wrapper? Repeating the choice of an administrative model with the same features, mechanism, and outputs is, by management logic, an unproductive process that will only lead us to the same lackluster results, and we are not in the mood to waste time and repeat templates that ambition has surpassed.

We are living in an exceptional phase enjoying historic and extended support and billion-dollar budgets that previous generations could only dream of. This immense generosity from the state does not want an administration that raises the slogan of 'the honor of trying,' but rather an administration that possesses the logic of podiums and gold-making. The massive support requires football minds of the size of the ambition, not lost ideas that wander through the corridors of committees and random, lackluster decisions.

What is both surprising and worrying at this time is the hint at some names known in the sports scene for bias—figures whose history is crowded with insinuations and whose tweets are full of provocation and incitement of fans. For heaven's sake, how can someone who set fires in the media space and social networks now don the firefighter's hat and sit in the chair of fair judgment? Leadership is not just a resume or a previous position; leadership is the ability to stand exactly in the middle, at an equal distance from everyone. The system today desperately needs wise people with balanced vision and mature decision-making to run the game, not sharp inclinations that wound what remains of the spirit of fair competition.

Therefore, let us close the book of favors; this chair is no longer a social prestige, nor a platform for taking pictures and appearing on satellite channels. The solution lies in a strict institutional step that makes any incoming president sign a personal pledge publicly before officials and millions. A pledge that includes clear goals measured by ruler and pen, comprising plans with dates and numbers for the first team, age groups, and league development, based on the principle of accountability and punishment: if the term ends and the targets are not achieved, the president is immediately dismissed and held accountable for any administrative or financial waste.

Whoever lacks passion and whose ambition does not allow them to soar and keep pace with the aspirations of this great nation, let them kindly step aside and be content with spectator seats behind screens. Leave the helm of responsibility to those who carry a real roadmap and a clear vision; big chairs and historic turning points never accommodate amateurs.