Tomorrow, Tuesday, Muhammad Al-Meshal is expected to officially submit his list to run for the elections to the Board of Directors of the Saudi Tennis Federation for the 2026-2030 session, on the third day of receiving nomination applications, within the electoral process in which the ballot is held and the electoral general assembly is held on November 30 of the current year.
The list includes eight candidates, led by Al-Meshal as a candidate for Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Tawfiq Yahya Maafa as Vice-Chairman, along with Abdulaziz Saud Al-Omran as a financial member, engineer Nawaf Abdulrahman Al-Sultan as a technical member, Fahd Abdullah Al-Shehri as a Paralympic member, Dr. Sarah Hassan Al-Qahtani as an administrative member, Dr. Abdulaziz Muhammad Al-Jarbou as a legal member, and Dr. Ali bin Muhammad Al-Faraj as a member.
The list was submitted at the start of the election schedule, which began on Sunday, November 8, and applications for candidacy will continue to be received until Thursday, the 12 of the same month, with applications closing at four o’clock in the evening on the last day.
The Federation’s General Assembly approved updates to the general election regulations, which included adding two conditions to the conditions for candidacy for membership in the Board of Directors, which are the English language proficiency of the head of the nominated list, and that the years of experience for each member of the list must not be less than eight years. The updates also included organizing personal interviews for candidates according to specific standards approved by the General Assembly, as part of the organizational procedures for the electoral process.
The criteria for the personal interviews identified seven axes, topped by strategic expertise and capabilities with a weight of 35 percent, followed by governance and control with a weight of 20 percent, leadership and management with the same weight, then relations and partnerships with a weight of 10 percent, the ability to enhance and build balanced relationships with the local sports community with a weight of 10 percent, and sustainability and innovation with a weight of 5 percent. The standards also included the axis of values and transparency, without specifying a percentage for it in the announced table.
The application form for candidacy for the presidency and membership of the Federation’s Board of Directors requires registering the full name, nomination status as president or member, date of birth, national identity data, job and place of work, contact numbers and e-mail, in addition to a statement of the work that the candidate has practiced in the sports field.
The required attachments include a copy of the national ID, a club membership form in the union, three personal photos, and the employer’s approval if the candidate works in a military or judicial body. The requirements for the candidate to head the Board of Directors also include attaching a copy of the academic qualification, not less than a bachelor’s degree, with the equivalency of the certificate if it was issued outside the Kingdom.
The form includes declarations and pledges to review the basic regulations of the sports federations, abide by and abide by what is stated therein, and adhere to all rules and regulations related to the candidate’s duties and powers.
According to the timetable, the stage of examining and announcing the initial lists of candidates and voters, and conducting personal interviews for the candidates, begins on November 13 and continues until the 19th, over a period of seven days. The door will then be opened for appeal against the initial lists of candidates and voters on the 20th and 21st of November, before the appeals will be considered during the period from the 22nd to the 24th of the same month.
The period from November 25 to 29 is allocated for announcing the final lists of candidates and voters, while voting will be held and the electoral general assembly will be held on November 30. This is followed by the opening of the door for appeals against the election procedures and the assembly’s holding on the first and second of December, and then those appeals will be considered during the period from December 3 to 5.
The General Elections Committee, headed by Salman bin Fahd Al-Jalil and with the membership of Abdul Rahman bin Muhammad Al-Barrak and Shahd bin Saleh bin Rashid, assumes its duties within the electoral process. The Electoral Appeals and Violations Committee is headed by Abdul Hakim bin Youssef Al Shaya, and its members include Noura bin Dhar Al Dosari and Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Al Yahya.
As for the secretariat of the General Committee for Sports Federation Elections and the Electoral Appeals and Violations Committee, it is headed by Areej bint Ali Al-Qahtani, and includes Abdul Rahman bin Khalid Al-Dhafiri and Saud bin Abdullah Al-Kultham as members.
The technical committee includes Ahmed Al-Issa as Chairman, a representative of the General Assembly from Al-Fateh Club, and Adel bin Ali Al-Ghamdi and Hazem bin Youssef Al-Yousef as members, as independent members.
Within the framework of the electoral arrangements, the Federation announced the update of the list of members of the General Assembly and the clubs, which included 37 clubs, which are: Al-Ibtisam, Al-Akhdood, Al-Ittifaq, Al-Itimad, Al-Bada’i, Al-Tahami, Al-Thaqba, Al-Jubail, Al-Jazira, Al-Hareeq, Al-Hazm, Hattin, Al-Khuwailidiya, Al-Dara’, Al-Sir, Al-Sarawat, Al-Salam, Al-Shabab, Al-Shorouk, Al-Safa, Al-Tarf, Al-Ula, Al-Omran, Al-Fath, Faid, Al-Fayha, Al-Faisaly, Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Qara, Kumit, Al-Muhit, Najd, Al-Nahda, Al-Hidaya, Al-Huda, Al-Hilal, and Al-Washm.
Today, Monday, the Saudi Professional League announced the updated calendar for the 2026-2027 season of the Saudi Professional Football League, in addition to the dates and locations for holding the matches of the thirteenth to twenty-first rounds, following the completion of a comprehensive review of the calendar, in light of the decision to reschedule the 2027 Asian Cup, and the additional periods it provided for holding the league matches.
The association explained that the review came with the aim of taking advantage of the additional time slots to redistribute the rounds in a more balanced way over the remainder of the season, which contributes to reducing the pressure of matches and improving rest and recovery periods for clubs, especially during the crucial stages of the season, taking into account local and external obligations and the requirements of competitive justice.
The updated calendar witnessed a redistribution of a number of rounds over the remaining months, with one round being held in November, four rounds in December, and four rounds starting in January, in addition to the completion of the seventeenth round extending from December, while February will witness four rounds, March two rounds, April three rounds, and May four rounds.
This distribution comes after the basic calendar did not include holding league matches during January, while the number of rounds for the months of April and May was reduced to 7 rounds instead of 11 rounds in the previous calendar, which in turn contributed to reducing match congestion during the final stages of the season, especially as they coincided with the decisive rounds of the local and continental championships.
A review of the rest periods for clubs participating in foreign tournaments also showed that the average rest days between matches increased to about 4.8 days after the redistribution process, compared to about 3.4 days during the last period, in addition to the convergence of rest averages between the clubs participating externally and the rest of the competition’s clubs during the second period.
The association indicated that the review process included holding workshops that included all clubs, during which the proposed distribution of rounds was reviewed, considerations related to different participations, rest periods, and travel requirements were discussed, and the clubs’ observations and views were listened to and studied within the organizational and operational requirements of the competition. While the Association is responsible for approving the scheduling in accordance with the approved powers and regulations, taking into account the affiliations of all clubs and the impact of any amendment on the rest of the competition’s matches.
The association confirmed that the update was limited to redistributing the dates for holding the rounds, while maintaining the sequence of confrontations between the clubs as approved and announced since the beginning of the season, and continuing to work with the basic standards approved for building the schedule, in a way that maintains competitive justice and takes into account the interests of the clubs and the requirements of the competition as a whole.
The Association also approved the detailed schedule for matches from the thirteenth to twenty-first rounds, which includes 81 matches distributed over 9 rounds, which will be held during the period from November 26, 2026 until January 30, 2027, specifying the dates and times of the matches and the hosting stadiums, after coordination with the relevant authorities and taking into account the readiness of the facilities and operational and organizational requirements.
Regarding the postponed matches from the ninth round, the association explained that the dates for their holding came in accordance with the commitments of the clubs participating in the local and foreign tournaments, as it was decided that the Al-Ahly and Al-Nasr match will be held on November 20, 2026, while the Riyadh and Al-Hilal, and Al-Ittihad and Al-Shabab matches will be held on December 21, 2026, taking advantage of the period of holding the Saudi Super Cup, and the four clubs not participating in the tournament, taking into account the clubs’ Asian obligations.
The association approved what Al-Sharq Al-Awsat alone said last Thursday regarding setting November 20 as the date for the postponed Al-Ahly and Al-Nasr match from the ninth round of the Saudi Professional League.
The association also explained that adjusting the dates of some rounds led to a number of matches coinciding with previously scheduled maintenance and agriculture programs in some stadiums, which necessitated the transfer of five matches to King Abdullah Sports City in Buraidah, which included the matches of Al-Faisaly and Al-Diriyah, and Al-Fayhaa and Al-Fateh, transferred from Al-Majmaah Sports City, and the matches of Al-Hazm and Al-Nasr, and Al-Khuloud and Al-Khaleej, transferred from Al-Hazm Club Stadium in Al-Rass, and the Al-Taawoun and Al-Fateh matches, transferred from Al-Taawoun Club Stadium. The alternative stadium was identified in coordination with the relevant authorities, taking into account its technical and operational readiness, and allowing the necessary time to complete maintenance and planting work.
The Association concluded by emphasizing that the updated calendar reflects its keenness to benefit from the developments affecting the sports calendar, and to develop the distribution of matches in a way that achieves the best possible balance between the regularity of competition, the competitive loads of the clubs, rest periods, and the experience of the fans, in a way that serves the interest of the competition and the clubs participating in it.
