JEDDAH, 21 June — Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed denied that the names of the members of the sports panel set up by him at the orders of the higher authorities have been dictated to him, according to a local Arabic daily yesterday.
“No names have been forced on us as I submitted the list before its announcement to Prince Abdullah, the regent, who told me to select whoever I wanted as it was my responsibility,” Okaz quoted Prince Abdul Majeed as saying.
Prince Abdullah appointed Prince Abdul Majeed last Sunday to conduct the necessary studies to revamp the country’s sports sector after the national team’s poor performance at the World Cup soccer finals.
Prince Majeed also announced that efforts are being made to convert the sports clubs into commercial companies that would not depend on the government financing or donations from honorary members as the donations are supposed to go to charitable institutions.
Prince Majeed disclosed in his talks that the idea of separating the football federation from the Presidency of Youth Welfare would be discussed by the new sports panel. He added that Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, who heads the presidency, would be the happiest person at the new committee as it would help in the discharging of his duties.
Commenting on the poor performance of the Saudi team, the prince said that the responsibility is collective.
However, the prince warned that the temperamentalism and arbitrariness in the selection of the national team will not be allowed any more.
The first meeting of the new committee, which includes experts from the diverse fields as sports, banking and business, will be held here tomorrow. The priorities of the panel, according to the prince, will be improvement of football as well as the football clubs.
One of the major problems faced by the clubs is the burden of debt, which is estimated at SR30 million, according to Al-Watan newspaper. The largest clubs such as Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal are reportedly weighed down by the highest level of debts that have been added up to SR20 million.
“We will study the causes for our defeat as well as the state of the Saudi clubs. However I am not a sportsman but a citizen like anyone else but in a responsible position. We will not restrict our area of studies to football alone but the entire arena of sports,” the governor said.
