Al-Nassr’s new president Musalli Al-Muammar will take charge of the club today as it emerged that the Riyadh club has amassed debts of almost $50 million (SAR 185 million), according to a report in Arabic-language newspaper Arriydiyah.
The Saudi Pro League club’s general assembly will convene on April 1 for the first time with the new president to discuss the financial report that shows the extent of the debts accumulated by the end of March 2021.
According to Arriyadiyah, the irregularities that have led to a major overhaul at the club include delayed salary payments to players, technical staff and other employees; transfer cases that have been ruled over by FIFA; dispute settlements within Saudi Arabia; and overdue payments for hotels, car companies and other sponsors.
Al-Muammar, former head of the Saudi Pro League, officially announced his candidacy last week after the Saudi Ministry of Sports removed former president Safwan Al-Suwaiket from his post and disbanded Al-Nassr’s board of directors for mismanagement of the club.
With no other candidates joining in the race, Al-Muanmar was nominated as the new president by Prince Khalid bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, the main benefactor of the nine-time Saudi Arabia champions.
Al-Muammar and members of the new board of directors were expected to convene at the club’s headquarters today where they will address Al-Nassr’s general assembly via a Zoom link-up.
In February, Al-Nassr, currently fifth in the league with six games of Saudi Pro League season remaining, was hit with a three-window transfer ban by FIFA after failing to pay Galatasaray the required transfer fee for Brazilian star Maicon Pereria Roque, although a subsequent payment would could see that suspension lifted.
The club was later involved in an alleged racism row between Hussein Abdulghani, a member of Al-Nassr’s coaching staff, and Al-Shabab’s Brazilian winger Sebastian Junior in a SPL fixture.
Among the six violations declared by the Ministry of Sports was the club’s failure to deal with resignations in the usual manner, running a budget deficit outside the parameters set by sporting authorities, publishing official decisions without holding board meetings to discuss them, and the president failing to respond to the ministry’s request for documentation.
