For you to know and realize, dear reader, that the issue and problem of Saudi refereeing is an eternal and chronic issue and problem, here is this confirmed information and shocking truth about the reality of local refereeing, which says that when the list of selected referees to officiate the matches of the Arab Cup tournament held in Qatar last December was announced, the list was devoid of any Saudi referee name except referee Abdullah Al-Shehri, who was selected for VAR technology only.

And also for you to realize and comprehend, dear reader, the extent of weakness that Saudi refereeing has reached, did you know that in the FIFA Club World Cup held in the United States last summer, which saw the participation of (117) referees from various continents, including (13) Arab referees representing seven sports federations, the absence of Saudi refereeing was recorded entirely from the tournament, despite the presence of a Saudi team, Al-Hilal?!

And strange and astonishing, with these indicators and signs about the tragic reality of Saudi refereeing since last season, that there is no place for the Saudi referee in Arab competitions, let alone his exclusion from international competitions, yet the Saudi Federation and the Referees Committee, led by committee head Manuel Navarro and his partner, director of the refereeing department, Farhad Abdullah, have all failed to find solutions to rehabilitate and develop the Saudi referee.

This explains and justifies how the three-member Saudi refereeing team of Khaled Al-Turais, Mohammed Al-Abkari, and Abdullah Al-Shehri went and returned without effective and actual participation in officiating the World Cup matches in America. This trio attended eight matches in the tournament, distributed among duties as fourth official, video referee, assistant video referee, and reserve assistant referee, in a real indicator and actual statement of the reality of Saudi refereeing, which contented itself with the trio's participation stopping at the round of 32 of the tournament, where Khaled Al-Turais and Mohammed Al-Abkari were present as fourth official and reserve assistant referee in the match between England and Democratic Republic of Congo, while Abdullah Al-Shehri attended as assistant video referee in the match between Germany and Paraguay, and then the trio left the tournament amid a question and inquiry: Who is responsible? And who benefits from the continued failure of Saudi refereeing?!.

In any case, the failure of the Saudi Federation and the Referees Committee in managing the Saudi refereeing file is not the product of this moment or the harvest of this tournament, but rather an extension of the failure of the officials and administrators of the Football Federation in selecting leaders and competencies to manage the Saudi refereeing file for many years, and that it - the Saudi Federation - has no strategy or future vision to rehabilitate and develop Saudi refereeing, but rather succumbs to improvised and random decisions. The biggest evidence is its approval of the decision to adopt a new mechanism for requesting foreign refereeing crews at high financial amounts reaching (450) riyals per match, in a behavior that reveals that the Saudi Federation and the Referees Committee have been led and swayed by strange flattery and non-innocent instructions for Saudi refereeing, for nothing but special objectives and limited goals that do not exceed the colors and inclinations of clubs. Therefore, the question that arises is: Will the Saudi Federation and the Referees Committee reconsider the decision on the high cost of requesting foreign crews to complete the project of developing and rehabilitating Saudi refereeing, or will the Saudi Federation and the Referees Committee continue to follow those with club inclinations and private goals?!

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