Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli players refused to celebrate the second division title at the request of fans, in a decision defended by club president Walid Moaz, but appeared to have upset coach Pitso Mosimane.
Veteran goalkeeper Yasser Al Musaileem, captain of Al Ahli, received the league shield, and the players wore medals for first place before leaving the stadium without celebrating the return to the Pro League after relegation in one season.
Al Ahli was relegated last year for the first time to the second division, and some of its fans on social media demanded not to celebrate this title, while its neighbor and rival Al Ittihad won the Professional League title.
Al Ahly President Walid Moaz told the Saudi sports station, "A tournament in which we participated in an exceptional circumstance, but thank God in the end we returned to our normal place out of respect and appreciation for the fans of Al Ahli who tired with us this year. We appreciate the tournament and we have nothing".
"Our presence in the tournament was a crisis. The idea is that Al-Ahly Club is historically clear where its natural place is, and I don't think that anyone who loves Saudi sports wishes to find Al-Ahli Club in the place where it was (second division), and for this reason (we) are unfortunately unable to rejoice. This is a matter that I have asked of us and we respect the opinion of the masses."
But it seems that South African coach Mosimane, who was reportedly leaving Al Ahly, did not agree with this decision, and appeared angry when his players left the stadium, insisting on recovering the shield and taking a series of pictures with the rest of the coaching and medical staff on the pitch.
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— Al-Ahli Saudi Club (@ALAHLI_FC) May 29, 2023
Al Ahly, who have won three league titles and are known as the "castle of cups and championships", said in a statement that they apologise to their fans for this season.
"We assure our dear fans that we appreciate your love and exceptional support, which is not surprising, hoping that today will be the beginning of the road to redraw the smile on these generous faces full of pride and pride," he added.