Clubs should think twice before doing transfer deals with those in the Saudi Pro League, according to Welsh side The New Saints, who claim they are yet to receive a penny after selling their star striker Brad Young to the Saudi club Al-Orobah last summer.
Related: Saudi Pro League shifts away from megastar signings to focus on youth
Young moved from Wales to the Middle East for a fee of £190,000. TNS wrote to Fifa for help in January after an agreed payment was not made by Al-Orobah. That money has still not been paid, the club say, while a second instalment is now also overdue.
“We would strongly advise any clubs who are considering entering into negotiations with clubs in the Saudi Pro League to think twice before they do so,” said the TNS chair Mike Harris. “When agreements are made, you would expect them to be honoured, and twice we have been promised money that we haven’t received despite numerous requests to do so.”
TNS say the result of their appeal to Fifa, with a tribunal convened in the middle of January, was an order that the first instalment on the transfer fee, a sum of $150,000 (£121,000), must be paid within 45 days, with 5% interest added. The club went on to say that Fifa’s general secretary, Mattias Grafström, had also proposed a second instalment of the transfer fee be paid within a 45-day period of 21 February. Under Fifa rules, should a club fail to comply with a monetary decision issued by a tribunal, they can be banned from signing further players until the debts are repaid.
Speaking last month, before Fifa intervention, Harris said TNS had been unable to contact Al-Orobah directly in attempting to resolve their issues. Young, meanwhile, has continued to play in the Pro League, scoring one goal and registering an assist in nine appearances for the club. Young also featured in a Sky Sports documentary about life in Saudi Arabia, describing it as “luxurious”.
“The money side is good but if you look at the standard of the league and the players of the league, it’s probably among the top five leagues,” Young told Sky. “I didn’t just do it for the money. I did it for the experience of living abroad, to better my career.”
Fifa and the Saudi Pro League have been approached for comment.
