JEDDAH, 22 June 2007 — Volleyball players on the lookout for better opportunities outside of their mother clubs have launched a campaign against the Saudi Volleyball Federation rule that forever binds them to their clubs with or without a contract.
Requests for the lifting of this counter-productive rule have been filed with the federation to no avail. “We will study the matter,” was the reply these players get from federation president Mohammad Mufti.
These players are leading the call for equal treatment with other sports when it comes to the transfer of players from one club to another. In football, professional players are allowed to move from one club to another freely after the age of 28 without having to return to their mother club approval after their contract ends. The same rule somehow applies in basketball and handball.
This is not the case in volleyball. Many other athletes are grumbling such as Khalid Al-Harbi of water polo, Abdulrahman Al-Hazmi of judo, and Maki Al-Mubiareek of gymnastics, who all saw the need of allowing them to move freely from one club to another.
The issue of a free transfer market has made footballers the object of jealousy of other Saudi athletes. If volleyball were to have the same rule as football the sport would improve and enable the established players to use their experience in other teams instead of limiting the competition between two main teams Ahli and Hilal.
Saleh Al-Qarni, former Ittihad volleyball athlete and president of the Ittihad cheering squad, said “professionalism in Saudi volleyball is needed.” It is one of the most beloved games and it was considered the second most popular game in Saudi after football in the past, he said.
“Professionalizing volleyball and allowing free transfer would bring the game back to life and add so much to its growth,” said Al-Qarni.
Yassir Al-Makawni, 27, of Hilal volleyball team said the game is getting boring. Ahli and Hilal are always the ones to compete in the finals of any championship. He said they have been requesting the federation to allow them to move from a club to another after reaching the age of 26 or 27.
“At this age an athlete will have given many years to his club without getting a benefit except if they won a championship. We deserve to do something that is beneficial for us and it is our right after all these years to strengthen other clubs with our experience,” said Al-Makawni. “We play as the footballers play and started bringing laurels like they do, so why are they discriminating against us.”
The federation said they are studying it, but until when would they continue to study it, Al-Makwani said of the issue of transfer of players.
“It is 2007 and we need to catch up with the rest of the world’s teams,” he said. A lot of players depend on the financial award they get at the end of a season or championship. “What if we did not win? How can we face our families after being away for training camps and then getting back with nothing? We need to secure our future.”
Mufti justified the dominance of Ahli and Hilal by saying that their club members supported the game emotionally and financially and that was the key to their clubs’ improvements. He also said in a recent TV interview that Ittihad and Nasr have the ability to do so but they are not giving the game and its athletes enough attention.
“This is where the private sector role comes in hand. If they support it and offered encouraging awards we would see a new generation who would play and love the game,” he said.
