Saudis say no to silverware

By: Olly Wehring - 19 June 2006 15:03

Yet more from the World Cup in Germany…

Saudi Arabia might not be many pundits’ tip to go all the way to the final. In spite of a 2-2 draw with Tunisia last week, they still have to face Ukraine and the much-fancied Spanish squad to get to the second round.

It will need all 11 Saudi players to put in man-of-the-match performances to get anywhere near progressing through to the knockout stages. Not that they’d get anything for their efforts.

The Muslim team have advised FIFA that, should any of their players be chosen as man of the match, they would refuse it.

The award is a silver mug with the Anheuser-Busch logo on it.

“We will activate common sense in this situation, but it is a given that no Saudi player will be nominated for the award, simply because we know for certain that they will refuse to accept it,” a FIFA official told Associated Press.