SNB Group and “Thanaa” Company, one of the companies of the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), specialized in producing and broadcasting creative media content and its technologies, signed a strategic partnership to sponsor the broadcast of Saudi Roshan League matches through “Thanaa” channels. Under the agreement, SNB Group becomes the exclusive financial partner for broadcasting Saudi football tournaments through “Thanaa” channels.
The agreement was signed in the presence of the CEO of SNB Group, Tariq Al-Sadhan, and Jumana Al-Rashed, Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Thanaa”, while it was signed by Saad Al-Abdali, the Group’s Chief Operating Officer and Acting Head of Customer Experience at the SNB Group, and Muhammad Nazer, CEO of “Thanaa”.
The agreement comes within SNB Group’s direction towards building strategic partnerships that support promising sectors with economic and social impact, most notably the sports sector, which is witnessing rapid growth and transformation in light of “Saudi Vision 2030”, and the Kingdom’s interest in developing the sports system, enhancing its contribution to the national economy, and improving the experience provided to the masses.
Eight is responsible for the media aspect of this partnership, as it is the official broadcaster of Saudi football tournaments and the producer of its accompanying content, and one of the most prominent Arab companies in producing and broadcasting sports content. “Eight” puts the Saudi viewer’s experience at the top of the priorities of this cooperation, and transmits the Saudi League and its championships to wider audiences inside and outside the Kingdom, with content of Arab origin and identity.
The partnership also reflects the importance of integration between the financial, sports and media sectors in supporting the growth of the sports economy and developing its system. It combines the institutional and financial capabilities of the SNB Group and the media expertise of the Eight Company, which enhances the reach of sports content to the public and provides more integrated and innovative experiences for Saudi football followers.
The agreement confirms the growing role of major national institutions in empowering the Saudi sports system, through long-term partnerships that go beyond the concept of sponsorship, and contribute to developing content and public experience, and enhancing the economic and commercial value of the sports sector, in line with the Kingdom’s growing position on the sports map regionally and globally.
Attention turns to Dammam, Tuesday, as Al-Qadisiyah hosts its counterpart Al-Ahly in a competitive summit that tops the matches of the second day of the sixth round of the Saudi Professional League, in a new test of the ambitions of Al-Qadisiyah, which imposed itself among the leading teams. Against Al-Ahly, it regained the tone of victories with five in the last round, while Al-Ittihad receives its counterpart Al-Fayhaa in Jeddah, Al-Ettifaq meets Al-Faisaly in Dammam, and Al-Taawoun is a guest of Al-Hazm in Al-Rass.
Al-Qadisiyah is undergoing its second big test this season after failing in the first when it lost to Al-Ittihad at home, but it returns this time with a different ambition, based on the remarkable levels it presented and the results that placed it in third place with 12 points, equal to Al-Nasr, which is in second place, and behind it on goal difference.
Al-Qadisiyah succeeded in overcoming its loss to Al-Ittihad perfectly, and quickly regained its presence to confirm its ability to remain close to the competition circle, but facing Al-Ahly will be a new test of the team’s readiness to continue among the leading teams.
Al-Qadisiyah strengthened its options before the close of the summer transfer period by signing Abdul Malik Al-Jaber, coming from Al-Nasr, along with Mamadou Sangari, coming from the Manchester City U-21 team, adding new elements to a list that already contains a number of names capable of making a difference.
On the other hand, Al-Ahly arrives in Dammam after regaining some of its balance in the last round, when it hit Riyadh’s net with a wide five-pointer. To put behind him his loss to Al Hilal in the postponed confrontation from the third round.
Al-Ahly raised its score to 9 points in fifth place, and is looking for a victory that would reduce the difference with Al-Qadisiyah to one point and strengthen its presence again among the leading teams.
But the huge victory in the last round did not obscure another scene inside the Al-Ahly stadiums. The match against Riyadh witnessed a limited crowd attendance, in addition to shouts of booing against the Ukrainian Artem. The case became one of the most prominent events of the match, despite its great result.
This was reflected in the media conversations of a number of Al-Ahly players after the match. They called on the fans to stand behind all members of the team and support them in the next stage, at a time when Al-Ahly needs a state of stability before entering into a new series of benefits.
The club had moved in the last hours of the summer transfer market to enhance its options by contracting with Frenchman Ibrahim Diaby, along with Saeed Bateya, who came from Al-Fateh.
In Jeddah, Al-Ittihad returns to its homeland ecstatic with a valuable victory over Al-Nassr with a score of 2-1 at the top of the last round, when it receives Al-Fayhaa in search of continuing its progress and getting closer to the lead.
Al-Ittihad has 11 points, and has so far maintained its record without loss, while the victory over Al-Nasr gave the team a great boost after stopping its rival’s perfect start and confirming its ability to show up strongly in major confrontations.
Al-Ittihad looks forward to building on that victory and not giving up points against Al-Fayhaa, especially since such confrontations represent great importance in a long race that cannot afford to lose points after winning the major matches.
Al-Ittihad strengthened its ranks with Dutchman Georginio Wijnaldum, who knows the atmosphere of the Saudi League well after his last experience with Al-Ettifaq. To add a new option to the team's midfield in the next stage.
As for Al-Fayhaa, they are visiting Al-Ittihad and have 5 points, placing them in eleventh place. The Brazilian team, Fabio Carelli, is looking forward to continuing to improve its results and come out with a positive result from a test that seems difficult against a competitor in high spirits.
In Dammam, Al-Ettifaq receives its counterpart Al-Faisaly, searching for a second successive victory, after it succeeded in the last round in stopping its series of losses and returning to the path of victories at the expense of Abha with a clean double.
The Australian team, Arthur Pappas, has 9 points, and aspires to capitalize on facing Al-Faisaly to reach point 12 and get closer to the leading teams again, after its results witnessed some fluctuations following its strong start.
On the other hand, the pressure on Al-Faisaly increases as the rounds pass. The team is still searching for its first victory after settling for two points, leaving it in seventeenth place.
The three points have become an important requirement for Al-Faisaly to get out of the cycle of negative results, but his mission seems complicated outside his home country in front of an agreement that has regained its balance and is looking to stabilize its return.
In Al-Rass, Al-Hazm receives its counterpart Al-Taawoun in a confrontation that carries special importance for the visitors, who in turn are still searching for their first victory this season.
Al-Hazm appears to be in a relatively better position after collecting 5 points, and is seeking to capitalize on holding the match at home to achieve a victory that strengthens its position and gives it more space away from the late positions.
As for cooperation, its beginning is still far from the way it used to appear. He collected only 3 points and has not succeeded in achieving any victory so far. Which makes confronting Al-Hazm an important step in trying to change its course.
Saudi international referee Khaled Al-Taris came out with wide praise from arbitration specialists after leading the confrontation between Al-Ittihad and Al-Nasr, one of the most prominent summits of the fifth round of the Saudi Professional League, which ended with Al-Ittihad’s victory 2-1, in a match that witnessed a number of arbitration cases that were subject to discussion and analysis, but the majority of opinions agreed on the soundness of the decisions affecting the outcome of the confrontation.
The refereeing team for the match consisted of Khaled Al-Taris, the arena referee, Abdul Rahim Al-Shammari, the first assistant, Saad Al-Shabrami, the second assistant, and Farih Al-Jaloud, the fourth referee, while Shukri Al-Hanfoush assumed the task of video technology referee, and Ibrahim Al-Dakhil assisted him.
The crew's task was not easy in light of the sensitivity and strength of the confrontation, but the decisions taken by Al-Taris and his assistants received remarkable agreement among arbitration analysts on a number of sports programs and channels, whether with regard to goals or cases during which Al-Nasr players called for penalty kicks.
The goal of the Brazilian Angelo, the Al-Nasr player, was one of the most prominent cases that sparked discussion, due to the presence of his Portuguese teammate Joao Felix in an offside position at the moment the goal was scored.
Khalil Jalal, the arbitration analyst on the “Al-Manassa” program on the “Eight” channels, confirmed the validity of the goal calculation, explaining that the player’s presence in an offside position alone is not enough to cancel the goal unless he was an influential participant in the game.
Jalal said that the law of the game has witnessed developments in interpreting such cases, and that the latest updates require that there be a clear movement by the player in the offside position that has a direct impact on the opponent, which did not happen in the case, for the decision to award Angelo’s goal to be considered correct.
This was not the only case that won the praise of specialists, as Abdullah Al-Qahtani, the refereeing analyst on the “Dorena Gear” program on Saudi channels, stopped at the assistant referee’s decision in the 16th minute to count offside against Joao Felix, praising the decision, especially since the Al-Ittihad defender was in a position to save his own goal, and thus the ball reaching the Al-Nasr player in such a situation means that there is a case of offside, which is what the assistant referee announced.
In the 28th minute, Al-Nasr called for a penalty kick after Abdul-Ilah Al-Omari came into contact with the Al-Ittihad goalkeeper, but Al-Qahtani supported Al-Taris’ decision to continue playing, explaining that it was the Al-Nasr player who collided with the goalkeeper, and therefore there was no violation that required a penalty kick.
Al-Qahtani returned to talking about Angelo's goal, confirming the correctness of the decision to award it, as the presence of Joao Felix in an offside position did not affect the Al-Ittihad defender's ability to handle the ball, nor did it block his vision in a way that required intervention and canceling the goal.
The last minutes witnessed two cases during which the Nasrawiyya demanded two penalty kicks, but Al-Qahtani approved Al-Taris’s decisions in both of them.
In the 87th minute, Senegalese Sadio Mane fell after competing with one of the Al-Ittihad players, and Al-Qahtani saw that the situation did not exceed the framework of normal competition and did not amount to a violation, describing the referee’s position in dealing with it as exemplary.
As for the second case, it came in the fourth minute of stoppage time, as Al-Qahtani confirmed that there was no penalty kick either, explaining that the fall of the Al-Nasr player was the result of his contact with his teammate and not with one of the Al-Ittihad players.
Bahraini Nawaf Shukrallah, the arbitration analyst for Saudi sports channels, agreed with most of these readings, starting with the goal that Al-Ittihad scored in the 18th minute and was canceled due to offside, as he confirmed the validity of the arbitration team’s decision.
Shukrallah also confirmed the validity of Angelo's goal, pointing out that Joao Felix, despite being in an offside position, did not affect the opponent and did not obscure the vision in a way that required canceling the goal.
Regarding Al-Nasr’s demand for a penalty kick in the 87th minute, the former international referee saw that the competition between Mane and the Al-Ittihad defender was within the framework of a natural confrontation, despite the presence of physical contact between the players, and therefore the decision to continue playing was correct.
Shukrallah went further than evaluating individual cases, as he gave Al-Taris a score of 8.5 out of 10 for his overall performance in the match, indicating the difficulty of managing a confrontation of the size of the “Classico” of Al-Ittihad and Al-Nasr.
In the “Rotana Sport with Walid” program on the “Rotana Khalijiya” channel, the reading of the arbitration advisor, Samir Othman, was consistent with the same trend, as he confirmed the validity of canceling Al-Ittihad’s goal in the 18th minute due to offside, and the validity of Al-Ittihad’s second goal in the 23rd minute, in addition to the validity of Al-Nasr’s goal in the 36th minute.
Muhammad Al-Abakri agreed with Othman in evaluating Al-Nasr’s goal, and the two also agreed that there was no penalty kick for Al-Nasr in the 87th minute.
Thus, the state of agreement among the specialists seemed remarkable in a match whose arbitration decisions are usually under a wide microscope, as the consensus was not limited to one case, but rather extended to the most important influential decisions, from cases of offsides and goals all the way to calls for penalty kicks.
Al-Taris emerged from one of the most difficult matches of the round with a positive evaluation, and the opinions of specialists came to give the Saudi crew additional praise, especially with its success in managing a large public and competitive confrontation without the influential arbitration decisions turning into the focus of widespread controversy after the final whistle.
