Saudi Football Team Sparks Outrage for Not Honoring 'Minute of Silence' for London Attack Victims
The Saudi Arabian football team has come under criticism for not observing a moment of silence for the victims of the London Bridge terror attack during their match against Australia in Adelaide on Thursday.
Fans who were at the Adelaide Oval were outraged when the Saudi national team failed to line up before the kick-off against the Socceroos for the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifying game.
Instead, the team opted to finish their warm-up drills while the Australians formed a line and observed the minute of silence.
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According to The Daily Mail, a spokesperson from the Football Federation Australia (FFA) was informed only before the match that the Saudi team would not honor it as the practice is not "part of their culture."
But the country's highest football organization already informed the Middle Eastern national team and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) of the plan.
"The FFA sought agreement from the Asian Football Confederation and the Saudi national team to hold a minute's silence in memory of those lost in Saturday night's terror bombings in London and in particular the two Australian women," said the spokesman.
He added that both the Saudi team and the AFC agreed. However, things took a different turn when the Saudi players refused to line up and continued with their warm-up.
The spokesman said the Saudi team officials then informed the FFA that they would not take part in the practice and would continue their drills on their side of the field to give way to the Australian team to do the custom as it is not "in keeping with Saudi culture."
The team's refusal angered many fans and some took to Twitter to express their feelings.
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) has since expressed their apologies for what happened.
The Centre for International Communication at the Ministry of Culture and Information of Saudi Arabia sent an email to The Washington Post containing the statement of Adil Ezzat, SAFF President.
Ezzat expressed "deep regrets" and apologized for offending people as the team refused to observe the minute of silence for the London Bridge attack victims. He further explained that the team "did not intend any disrespect to the memories of the victims nor to cause upset to their families, friends or any individual affected by the atrocity."
The federation president also conveyed the organization's condemnation of "all acts of terrorism and extremism."
Meanwhile, Australian player Ryan McGowan addressed the incident and stated that how the Saudi team acted is beyond their jurisdiction.
"More importantly for us as a team we wanted to show our respects for the two that lost their lives and make sure that we did the right thing and what they did we don't really have any control over that," he told 9News.
He added, "We just wanted to make sure that we did it and we observed it properly."
