Five Teams From 12 Participate in the League: The Clubs "Betray" the Players

"The mask has fallen". A phrase that might apply to what matters in football. "The mask fell", and many faces were exposed. She had previously participated in the "play" of the extraordinary general assembly held to discuss the future of the football season. This is how the scene was described yesterday afternoon Wednesday (15/01/2020). On the "Play" day, the clubs raced to the Bristol Hotel to confirm their adherence to the game and to preserve the game and the interests of the players. Its main problem was the issue of relegation mainly and foreign players. The session ended and the Lebanese Federation went to its meeting to come up with a formula in which it canceled the drop in all grades, and decided to establish a one-stage championship without foreigners, leaving the freedom to participate in the clubs.

The surprise was yesterday after the deadline set by the federation for the clubs to confirm their participation, as only five clubs sent books to the Lebanese Confederation confirming their participation in the championship. Al-Ahed, Al-Ansar, Al-Burj, Tripoli and Al-Ikha Al-Ahly On the other hand, seven clubs, Al-Najma, Al-Safa, Shabab Al-Sahel, Al-Salam Zgharta, Al-Tadamun Sur, did not confirm their participation. There are many reasons why these clubs may not participate, but the result is the same.

A "blow to the killing" afflict the soccer game, the soccer season and, above all, dozens of people, coaches, administrators and players who live from this sector and constitute their main source of livelihood. Worse still, the game's federation has faced a stalemate in its inability to complete the season in the first division, with more than half of the clubs refusing to participate. As it is not reasonable and logical to establish an official league at the end of which a champion enters the golden records of the tournament, in a league that includes fewer clubs than the number of clubs participating in the Elite Cup or the Challenge Cup activist or even the Cup of Haret Hreik friendly currently existing.

Perhaps the most embarrassing for first-class clubs is that the number of second-class clubs that want to play is six out of twelve clubs, that is, more than the number of first-class clubs that want to participate. Here an important question arises, does it make sense that the clubs that suffer financially and are considered in the League of Grievances are able to participate more than first-class clubs? In the end, those clubs stick to staying first class!

In the second degree, six clubs announced their desire to participate: Racing, Social, Wisdom, Sporting, Al-Mabra and Al-Ahly Saida. But at the same time, the number is considered a small number to establish a league, at the end of which two teams qualify for the first degree, as a third of the participating clubs will rise to the first class. It is also difficult in the event the federation abolishes the first-class championship, establishing the second championship and raising clubs, to make the number 14 clubs next season.

The number - the shock that the Lebanese Union has reached, has raised questions about the causes, and the most important are the results and repercussions. Here it is necessary to stop at the position of two of the five clubs that previously held onto playing and completing the season, and then returned and refrained from participating: Al Nejma and Shabab Al-Sahel. The two clubs are from the "pentagram", which held two consecutive meetings before the general assembly and announced its adherence to the completion of the season. But for those of them, the principle of canceling the landing shifted to "Othman's shirt". The beginning was with the Shabab Al-Sahel club, which issued a night statement the day before yesterday announcing its non-participation, attributing the reasons to «that the club’s position was clear from the beginning and was clearly demonstrated in the meetings of the five clubs In which he expressed his opposition to abolishing the principle of relegation to lower levels and also his opposition to give the club the right to choose whether or not to participate in the tournament.

The star, for his part, also spoke about the issue of canceling the relegation and its danger to the correct competition, and the failure to complete the league from the stage in which he stopped to announce his non-participation, unless the federation retracted these two items according to a book that the club sent to the game association at four and a third yesterday afternoon, i.e. After the federal deadline ends at four o'clock in the afternoon yesterday, Wednesday, January 15. Al-Najma club President Asaad Saqal announced this position during yesterday's press conference at the club's headquarters, where he indicated that he sent him via e-mail to Al-Ittihad after the deadline expired.

But is this really the reasons why the two clubs did not participate?

In Shabab al-Sahel, information from a close source indicates that the story is not related to a championship system, but rather to exaggerated requests from some players, according to the sources. Two days ago, a number of players rejected the formula for reducing their salaries in light of the current economic crisis, which left a huge threshold for the club president, Samir Dabouq, who did not leave his players and remained at their side in the height of the crisis, but they did not exchange him for the same. Then the sources say that Dabouq decided to continue to pay salaries until the end of April without participating in the championship, as a kind of recording a position towards his players before anything else. Here follow-up sources say that he records for Dabouq his principled position, but he records that he invokes the championship system to justify non-participation instead of announcing the internal reasons that were a major reason for the coastal decision.

In Najma, the situation does not differ much, albeit with a different framework. The justifications for the star do not seem logical according to the followers, whether it is in terms of adhering to the decline to prevent tampering or with regard to completing the season from the place he stopped and not returning it from the beginning.

If the number of clubs is six (in the event the star joins) then it is not possible to set a landing system with six clubs refraining from participating, and here the principle of fear of leniency is negated in the absence of a landing. The competition will be open between the six clubs of equal level in the absence of foreigners to win the title and therefore it is not possible to talk about manipulation. This is how people commented on this matter.

As for the subject of completing the championship from the place where it stopped, it was also raised impossible in light of the withdrawal of six teams, and therefore its results are canceled. Here it can be said that if the star is keen on his six points from two wins over Al-Ansar and Solidarity Pictures as his boss Asaad Saqal says in the press conference, then Solidarity is no longer a participant and therefore its outcome cannot be calculated. And the matter also applies to the rest of the teams, such as the tower that won the peace, Zgharta, and the youth of the tower, who also withdraw.

Also among the prestigious teams that will be absent from the scene is Al-Safa Club. This club, which was always present in the footballing image, so that its stadium and tournaments (Al-Adha and March 16) were the only football outlet in the height of the war, and it found no one in his administration who raised the voice to participate and not be absent. A member of the Administrative Committee, Moeen Jumblatt, who appears to be alone in the Safavid arena, while attending club meetings with the Federation, as well as the extraordinary general assembly, spoke to Al-Akhbar about the reasons for the absence of the ancient team.

“85 to 90% of the problem is financial. Team players have not been paid since last September. Add to this the administrative problems that the club suffers from, as the Safavid scene was divided between two parties that are completely contradictory. If one party puts forward a certain idea, the other party opposes just because the first party put it up, and the opposite is true”. Jumblatt tells Al-Akhbar about the reality of serenity and the reasons for its withdrawal.

The purity of the players level may be an example of the great harm that will befall a large segment of players, administrators and coaches in the teams that will not participate, whether in the first degree (seven clubs), the second (six clubs), and the third (13 clubs out of 28).

It is true that most clubs used a "symphony" to benefit their players and not leave them, but the data indicates that the reality of most of those clubs is difficult to ale. When a player in a first-class club thinks of selling a member of his body to feed his family, then it is possible to know how his colleagues are (this happened not so long ago). And when another player is waiting for his friend in another club to eat with him because he does not have the money to secure his strength too, then the bleak picture can be seen. And when he finds a player from outside the capital playing with a team from an area adjacent to Beirut on the street, because the management of his club did not pay the rent for the apartment in which he lives and he is forced to stay in a café adjacent, then also, can be found on the disastrous situation of the players. These things happen every day in the game of the poor.

If the situation of these players and others and others is similar before the fate of the tournament is decided, then how will they be after their clubs decided not to participate?

There is no doubt that the picture will be very bleak after closing the number of clubs that want to play in the first degree to five and in the second to six, which paves the way for canceling the entire season and consequently a large number of workers in this sector enter the dark tunnel, unless a window is entered that enters "Oxygen" to most workers in the spherical milieu, although the options seem limited and the issue is almost decided: the season has flown.

The press conference held by the president of Al-Nijmeh club Asaad Saqal was an opportunity to clarify matters related to the club away from the issue of participation in the league or not. The press conference came after the club announced the holding of complementary elections for the Administrative Committee, which resulted in the entry of three new members: Ali Hisham Al-Saba, who became Vice President, in addition to Ibrahim Al-Houry and Mazen Batkji as two members. This matter raised questions about the legitimacy of the electoral process, as some questioned the legality of what happened in terms of not calling for elections in public, setting specific dates, and opening the door for candidacy. Points were raised by "Al-Akhbar" in the press conference, where Saqqal confirmed that the elections were legitimate and took place in accordance with legal frameworks in terms of announcing the general assembly and elections in three newspapers. Also, the general assembly meeting took place the third time after two sessions in which the quorum was not secured, before the one attending was held.

Saqqal also answered questions about the financial situation of the team in light of talk about the presence of large debts owed by the club towards current and former players, in addition to financial sanctions from the AFC. There are also questions about the existence of lawsuits against the club, which exceeded five cases. Saqqal denied everything that was said about a difficult financial situation, reassuring the public that there was no financial crisis. “But it is natural that salaries are not paid normally as if there is no crisis. But at the same time, I will not leave the players. Even if we don't participate in the league, I will fulfill my financial obligations. I was honest with the players and spoke to them in this very room (where the press conference is taking place). I have told them that I am unable to fully carry out the financial burdens under difficult circumstances, and therefore there are two solutions: Either I quit and another president comes after me, or the players stay and help me. Indeed, most of the Al-Nijmeh players agreed and decided to stand by my side, ”said Saqal during the press conference.

As for the issue of lawsuits, the Al-Najma club president indicated that "what is said is not true, and there are only two lost lawsuits against Al-Najma club, and not five cases, as it is said."