JEDDAH, 5 January 2007 — Al-Ittihad fans will have to wait to see Luis Figo don the club’s yellow and black jersey, if at all the deal with the Portuguese and former Real Madrid star gets done.
Yesterday was supposed to be the day Figo will sign the contract. As it turned out, Figo failed to show up at the contract signing ceremony in Dubai.
However, Figo’s agent Mariam Abu Khadour and Ittihad General Manager Rafat Al-Turki were present at a news conference purportedly to announce the signing of Figo at the Jumeira Emirates Towers.
“Figo has been in negotiations with Al-Ittihad,” Abu Khadour, told a news conference.
“These negotiations are in the final, detailed stages.”
Abu Khadour and Al-Turki then both broke off the news conference when journalists from around the Gulf region quizzed them on why Figo was not present for the signing of his contract with Ittihad.
In Jeddah, Ittihad sent out messages on their SMS service that final negotiations are still being worked out. Figo was said to have imposed conditions prior to his signing, among them, he should be paid 70 percent of the contract price within the first six months and that he gets the option to pre-terminate his contract with full remuneration from Ittihad.
Ittihad fans had been titillated the past week by reports in the Saudi media that Figo is set to join Ittihad after he was offered a contract said to be upwards of $4 million.
Inter Milan, who are in Bahrain for a game against the Bahrain national team tomorrow in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Bahrain Football Federation, said Wednesday that reports that Figo would be leaving were “without foundation.”
“There are no talks under way, and no negotiations exist to sell midfielder Luis Figo,” Inter said on its Web site.
