Al Wasl said there were no flights, and Al-Nassr’s Champions League game in Riyadh is off

The AFC announced the postponement on Sunday in a short statement on its website. It gave no reason, and said only that the new date and kick-off time would be “confirmed and announced in due course”.

The match was the third round of the West league phase, and it was meant to be played at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh. It is now the only fixture of the round without a date.

Flights, according to the UAE side

The explanation came from elsewhere. Gulf News reported that Al Wasl decided not to travel to Riyadh because of “travel difficulties, particularly the lack of available flights”. The Dubai club had not arrived in the Saudi capital when the AFC made its call.

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation did not take that quietly. In a statement backing Al-Nassr, it said all arrangements to receive the visitors had been completed, that it had issued flight permits, and that it had formally told the AFC preparations were finished. The match commissioner and the refereeing team were already in Riyadh, it added. It also offered to help with any formal steps the clubs take to protect their rights. That is about as close as a federation gets to saying a complaint is coming.

Al Wasl have made the trip into Saudi Arabia once already this season. Their opening game, on 14 September, was a 2-1 defeat to Al-Qadsiah in Dammam.

Where it leaves Al-Nassr

Ange Postecoglou’s side already have ground to make up. They opened the campaign with a 4-0 thrashing at Al Ain and only got going in the second round, beating Neftchi 3-1 in Riyadh with Ronaldo scoring just before half-time. That left them eighth in the 16-team West table with three points.

Al Wasl, under Rui Vitória, are 14th and still waiting for a point after their home defeat by Al-Ahli on 12 October.

Domestic form is better. The champions are second in the Saudi Pro League after ten games, two points behind Al-Hilal, so a free midweek does them no harm in the short run. The problem comes later. Every West side plays eight league games in a phase that runs into February, and a rearranged fixture has to be squeezed into a season that is already full.

For now, Al-Nassr sit on three points while the other 14 teams in the West play their third games on Monday and Tuesday.

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