Meal rumour: Saudi national team manager explains reason for Al-Juwayr's dismissal before Gulf Cup 27

What did Fahd Al-Mufarraj say?

Fahd Al-Mufrij has settled the row over why Musab Al-Juwair was left out of Saudi Arabia's squad for the "Gulf Cup 27". The national team manager revealed the decision had nothing to do with a meal, as had circulated in recent hours. It came instead as a result of a disciplinary breach the player repeated despite being warned the first time.

Al-Juwair's exclusion had sparked wide controversy. The national team's management announced the decision came for disciplinary reasons but never revealed the nature of the violation, which opened the door to a flood of accounts and speculation across social media, including talk of a dispute over a meal.

Al-Mufrij explained to the media that the technical and administrative staff did not exclude Al-Juwair over a passing violation. The player breached the internal regulations of the camp and received a warning after the first incident, only to repeat the offence. The penalty then followed in line with the rules.

Al-Mufrij denies the meal rumour

"Musab Al-Juwair is one of the promising talents, but we have regulations and rules, and the player violated them and was punished," Al-Mufrij said. He added that the details of the violation fall within the internal affairs of the national team and cannot be fully disclosed, in order to preserve the privacy of the work inside the camp.

On the claim that Al-Juwair was dropped for requesting or bringing in a meal, Al-Mufrij stressed the story was inaccurate. The matter, he said, was bigger than a meal, and such an incident could never be the sole reason for excluding a player from the national team.

It is not reasonable to exclude a player because of a meal, this is not true," the executive director of the Saudi national team added, a direct response to the rumour that spread after the Al-Qadsiah player was left out of the camp.

Al-Mufrij confirmed Al-Juwair repeated the violation despite the warning he received from the technical and administrative staff. That made continuing the matter unacceptable, especially after the regulations and rules had been explained to all the players from the start of the camp.

Al-Juwair is important, but the system is above everyone

There was no debate over Al-Juwair's technical value, Al-Mufrij stressed. The player remains one of the important elements for the national team, but that does not earn him an exception from the rules that apply to every member of the camp without distinction.

"Musab is important, but we have a system, and whenever I overlook it the camp will become chaos," he said. The staff, he explained, found themselves forced to apply the regulations after the violation was repeated despite the earlier warning.

Every player knew what was expected of him. Al-Mufrij revealed the national team's management laid out the regulations and disciplinary rules to all the players from the first day of the camp and explained each of them in detail.

"We presented the regulations and rules to the players, and Al-Juwair's violation was repeated, so we excluded him to preserve the system," he explained. The aim was not to target the player but to preserve discipline inside the camp before the Gulf tournament.