Al-Hilal face a potential crisis regarding the availability of one of their foreign stars for upcoming matches, following an attack on the referee of Saturday’s match between ‘The Leader’ and Al-Taawoun, which took place as part of Round 27 of the Roshen League.
The curtain fell on the Al-Hilal vs Al-Taawoun clash with a 2-2 draw, a match that saw several controversial refereeing decisions, which sparked the anger of Portuguese manager Rúben Neves, who made strong comments after the match.
Neves criticised the referee’s performance, insisting that his team had been wronged and that Al-Taawoun had scored an invalid goal, whilst also claiming his side deserved a penalty.
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Neves’ comments could see him suspended, according to the Saudi newspaper “Okaz” on Sunday evening, which spoke to legal adviser Mohammed Al-Deeni about the controversial incident.
Mohammed Al-Deini said that Neves’s recent comments warrant the intervention of the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee, confirming that the player could face a fine of 50,000 riyals, in accordance with paragraph (2) of Article (50) of the regulations.
He added: “If the committee considers that these remarks constitute a direct insult to the match officials, the punishment will not be limited to a fine alone, but may extend to a suspension for a number of matches, alongside a financial penalty of up to 300,000 riyals.”
Should the harsher penalty be imposed on Ruben Neves, Al-Hilal will be without his services during the decisive stage of the season, particularly with only seven rounds remaining in the Roshen League, amidst the fierce title race with Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli.
Al-Hilal currently sit second in the Roshen League table with 65 points, level with third-placed Al-Ahli and five points behind leaders Al-Nassr.