JEDDAH, 19 November 2003 — A friendly soccer match, which was to have brought together Champions League finalists AC Milan and Juventus against Saudi champions Al-Ittihad to honor former Saudi national defender Ahmed Jameel, has been canceled. The match, scheduled for Dec. 23, was canceled after a suicide bombing in Iraq killed 19 Italian soldiers.
In a statement sent to Al-Ittihad Club last week, the Italian teams expressed their concern to visit the region after the tragic act in Iraq.
“We really feel sorry that the famous Italian clubs will not make it to play in the Kingdom for a farewell match for Ahmed Jameel, one of our best national players,” Al-Ittihad Club President Mansour Al-Bilawi, said in response to the cancellation of the two Italian clubs.
Al-Bilawi said the match would be played as scheduled but with other international football clubs. “We’re in the process of replacing the Italian teams with other famous teams either from Europe or South America.”
According to him, the two Italian teams have violated the terms of the assigned contract and so Al-Ittihad club will demand payment of $350,000 from the Italian clubs as the contract violation fee.
