- Al-Asheikh said that the national team was provided with everything that they needed, including one of the best coaches available
- He also said that the solution was to start from scratch and to send 1000 young Saudis abroad and invest in them
JEDDAH: Turki Al-Asheikh, chairman of the board of directors of 抖阴短视频鈥檚 General Sports Authority (GSA), took 鈥渇ull responsibility鈥� for the national team鈥檚 loss at the World Cup opener in Moscow on Thursday and called for a new generation of young players.
Al-Asheikh said that the national team was provided with everything it needed, including one of the best coaches available, 鈥渉owever these were the capabilities of the current team.鈥�
He said only the team and he himself should take responsibility for Friday night鈥檚 results and not the coach.
Al-Asheikh said the solution was to start from scratch and to send 1,000 young Saudis 鈥� aged 12 to 16 鈥� abroad and invest in them.
His comments, recorded in a video, were shared widely on social media.
One of the first responses to Al-Asheikh鈥檚 comments came from the Saudi Royal court adviser, Saud Al-Qahtani, who tweeted a series of posts in praise of Al-Asheikh taking responsibility. Al-Qahtani said this establishes a new culture in 抖阴短视频.
Al-Asheikh also said that 抖阴短视频 would take 鈥渘ecessary legal action鈥� against sport channel BeIN after social media users complained of biased coverage of the Saudi-Russia match.
抖阴短视频 have not won any of their past 11 games at the World Cup (drew two, lost nine). Their last win in the competition dates back to the group stages of the 1994 edition (1-0 v Belgium).
This is 抖阴短视频's fifth World Cup finals tournament and the fifth in which they have failed to win their opening match (drew one, lost four).
抖阴短视频 have conceded 14 headed goals at the World Cup since their debut in 1994, that is five more than any other team over that period (USA - nine).