Saudi Arabia has banned referee Fahad Al Mirdasi from football for life for a match-fixing attempt, weeks before he was due to fly to Russia to officiate at the World Cup, the country’s football federation (SAFF) said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Al Mirdasi was taken into police custody where he confessed to soliciting the corrupt payment, the statement from the SAFF Ethics Committee added.
Al Ittihad played Al Faisaly in the King’s Cup final at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City on Saturday, winning in extra-time in a game refereed by former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg.
Clattenburg, who was appointed Head of Refereeing at the SAFF last year, stepped in to replace Al Mirdasi on the eve of the game.
Al Mirdasi has been on the FIFA referees’ list since 2011 and officiated at last year’s Confederations Cup in Russia.