Al Hilal boss criticises Dutch manager Koeman over Bergwijn comments | OneFootball

The CEO of Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal has hit out at comments made by Ronald Koeman over Netherlands winger Steven Bergwijn’s move to Saudi Arabia.

Dutch manager Koeman said he would not select Bergwijn for the national team following his move to Al Ittihad. “The book is basically closed to him. He knows what I think about this,” he said earlier this year. “When you are 26, your main ambition should be sporting, not financial. These are choices that players make.”

Al Hilal CEO was asked about Koeman’s comments at the Leaders Week London conference, and says the former Everton and Barcelona manager’s comments were “not fair”.

“Obviously as someone who lives in the country and loves the country and values the quality of the product we put out there, I didn’t like those statements,” he said.

“I think this is just not fair. It’s not right. And actually, if you look at the players that have come to Saudi, most of them continue to go with their national teams.

“You’ve got (Aymeric) Laporte, for instance, (became) champion of Europe with Spain having come to Saudi.

“Most of the players continue to be called by national teams, Ruben Neves (Portugal) in our case, even (Al Nassr’s) Cristiano (Ronaldo), (Morocco’s) Bono our goalkeeper – all of them continue to be called up.

“That’s why that came a bit out of the blue, and probably out of a lack of knowledge of the value and the quality of the league, because if you watch matches, or you come and see the facilities, they are up to European standards.

“So I’m just so sorry for the Dutch players, because it’s clearly an exception.”

Click to comment