JEDDAH, 12 May 2008 — The popular Saudi daily sports newspaper, Arreyadi, is set to return to the stands today after a six-day suspension by the Ministry of Culture and Information.
Salah Al-Balawi, the newspaper’s owner and board director, told Arab News, “We were verbally informed of the suspension being lifted as was the case when we were suspended (by the Ministry of Information and Culture).”
He added that the newspaper, which is perceived as being pro-Ittihad, had not received anything in writing nor was it informed of the reason behind the suspension.
However, sources attributed the stoppage to the paper’s vocal criticism of the Presidency of Youth Welfare’s decision to suspend Al-Ittihad defender Osama Al-Muwallad for two matches.
On May 5, one of the newspaper’s headlines read, “The demands of the pampered are orders to every committee.” That edition of the newspaper carried a number of articles and cartoons attacking the decision by the presidency’s disciplinary committee.
Articles alleged that the presidency had favored Al-Ittihad’s archrivals, the Riyadh-based Al-Hilal, who were referred to as the “the spoiled son.”
Al-Muwallad was suspended for allegedly choking Al-Hilal striker Yasser Al-Qahtani in Thursday night’s first leg semifinals match in the King’s Cup for Champions, which Al-Ittihad won 4-1.
Spanish referee Bernardino Gonzalez, who saw the incident, gave Al-Muwallad a verbal caution, thinking the incident did not merit a yellow card. Photos showed the defender’s hand holding back the Saudi national captain with a loose hold on the neck.
However, these feelings were not shared by Al-Hilal’s fans, who waged a campaign to ensure Al-Muwallad is suspended, and accused the referee of bias resulting in their team losing.
Former referee Mohammed Saad Bakheet, who writes a column on referees’ performance in Arab News’ sister publication Arriyadiah, had also written that Al-Muwallad deserved a yellow card.
