Prince Nawaf Ibn Faisal Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdulaziz, President General of Youth Welfare and President of Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) reiterated here last night that Franklin Rijkaard, the new manager of the Saudi Arabian National Team will have full authority in setting programs and selection of players, hoping that the Saudi Arabian sport media do not hasten in positive or negative judgment and they should give the new manger time to work. Rijkaard will start coaching at the end of current month for a period of three years, he said adding that the contract will be automatically extended after qualification of the Saudi team to World Cup finals. In a joint press conference with the new coach at the Saudi Embassy in London last night, Prince Nawaf acknowledged Rijkaard's history and contributions as football player and team manager. I have been clear in my discussion with Rijkaard in making programs and preparatory planning to develop the capabilities of the Saudi National team. The Manager has full Authority with every sense of the word in setting programs and selection of footballers, he said, the SAFF role is to assist Rijkaard in performing his tasks, he added Prince Nawaf expressed his happiness to have the accompanying assistants, to the Manager who were with him when was in Barcelona, where he achieved the best results. The New manager will assume his official duties after the two matches and he will join the Saudi National team against Hong Kong national team, Prince Nawaf said, adding that the enthusiasm that I witnessed today was clear when the new manager requested all related information and tapes of the National team. --More
