RIYADH — A total of 228 coaches and players of Saudi clubs arrived in Jeddah on Friday from the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo aboard a fourth special flight arranged for that purpose. The entourage will be part of domestic football competitions in the Kingdom scheduled to kick off on Aug. 4. The arrival of the players and coaches was facilitated with the direct support and attention of Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal, minister of sport, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Saturday. Secretary General of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) Ibrahim Al-Qasim commended the efforts of all government agencies and participating sectors, and ministry of sports and SAFF personnel in finalizing the arrangements and reception of the coaches and the players. Four private aircraft were secured from Brazil, Tunisia, Egypt and France. These countries were chosen since a majority of the players and coaches belong to the first three countries, while the gathering point was in Paris. Traveling for those outside these countries was facilitated via Bahrain through King Fahd Causeway, Al-Qasim said. He stressed that the SAFF was keeping pace with the concern on healthcare, with the support of Prince Abdulaziz, by setting up an operations room aimed at coordinating with the ministry of sports and clubs on the resumption of club training and implementation of the medical protocol approved by the ministry.
