JEDDAH, 30 November 2007 — The plot thickened in the Saudi football soap opera after Sierra Leone international Mohammed Kallon yesterday demanded a public apology from Al-Hilal club and the Saudi Football Federation for damaging accusations, and former Al-Ittihad President Mansour Al-Balawi admitted he resigned under duress.
Breaking his silence since the media reported he quit in the aftermath of the Kallon transfer controversy, Al-Balawi told Al-Arabiya TV channel in an interview that he received a call from an individual he declined to name from the Saudi Youth Welfare requesting him to resign.
The request, sources say, was a polite way of saying heavy pressure from the highest Saudi sports authority in the Kingdom was applied to force Al-Balawi to step down.
In the same interview, Al-Balawi said he had nothing to do with Kallon’s travel to Jeddah saying Hilal representatives were wrongfully pointing to Ibrahim Salman as my personal drive . “I don’t have a driver under that name, they can check all my official labor records,” he said. Al-Balawi had previously warned not to drag his name or the club’s each time they fail to sign a player.
Al-Balawi said “I have not signed an official resignation since I am not an employee in the first place.”
He added in separate media interviews that he will run for his former office in the next upcoming club elections. He said he would continue to support the club from any location.
In a phone interview to Al-Arabiya Kallon said that he has not spoken to Al-Balawi during this past stay in the Kingdom.
In light of yesterday’s developments, the Hilal management has prevented its representatives from making any further comments to the media. The controversy that erupted last week stemmed from Hilal's allegations that Al-Balawi spirited Kallon out from Riyadh to Jeddah.
In a phone interview with Arab News Kallon made it clear that he has not yet filed an official complaint to FIFA but that he demands a public apology from Hilal and the country’s football federation.
“I am a footballer; I am a very peaceful man. I don’t need this escalation of matters,” he said. “What I want is a public apology.” It was not immediately clear whether Kallon had made known his demand of a public apology to either the Riyadh-based club or the federation
He said he was wrongfully accused of running off with a million Saudi riyals (referring to a complaint raised by the club to the Jeddah police director but later retracted).
“And I have come to know that the Saudi football federation has effectively issued a ban against me from being signed by Saudi clubs.
“What have I done? Because that (ban) indicates that I have done something wrong.”
He said, “I deserve an apology.” The Sierra Leone international said that he is not a rookie nor is he new in the business as he has signed 12 contracts to date. “I am fully aware of the rules and regulations on that matter,” he said.
The player added he has not spoken to Al-Balawi for more than three months. Kallon said he was in Riyadh to negotiate his contract with Hilal, but the club did not agree with one of his contract terms that he is to receive 10,000 euros for each game the club wins.
“We didn’t reach an agreement,” he said. “I was in contact with a friend who I found out later had been in Riyadh and was scheduled to travel to Jeddah 9 o’clock that night. He said the two of them traveling together to Jeddah was a suitable setup since he no longer had any business in Riyadh and he wanted to arrange his mother’s upcoming Umra visit to Makkah. “They are not my parents to tell me where to go or what to do,” he said.
Upon his arrival in Jeddah, Kallon found out through a friend that Hilal had filed an official complaint against him for allegedly running off with SR1 million of the club’s money. When he wanted to leave the country for Paris he was told at the airport that he would not be allowed because Hilal has lodged an official complaint. He missed his flight to Riyadh and was delayed for around 4 hours until the club executed an affidavit that the charge against him was a mistake.
