A Saudi soccer fan allegedly whipped star striker Abderrazak Hamdallah after the Al-Ittihad star sprayed water at him following Thursday’s Saudi Super Cup final in Abu Dhabi.
The pair appeared to be engaged in an argument when Hamdallah sprayed a bottle of water at the fan from the field, video of the alleged incident showed. The fan stood up immediately and appeared to strike Hamdallah with a whip.
احسن تستاهل .. ليش ترشق عليه ماء؟ pic.twitter.com/kWk0ziN0Mq
— إيدن (@iJustAidan) April 11, 2024
Hamdallah’s teammates quickly leaped to his defense, trying to climb the barricades to get to the fan as some of his other teammates held Hamdallah back.
Security personnel appeared to take the fan away.
This is absolutely wild. First of all, how does a fan get a whip into the stadium? Is that allowed?
The whip has an interesting place in Saudi culture and society. Until very recently it was still used as a common form of corporal punishment. While Saudi Arabia officially banned flogging as a punishment in 2020, it clearly still holds a place in the nation’s culture if fans are walking around soccer stadiums strapped up Indiana Jones style. (RELATED: Saudi Oil Minister Praises UN Climate Agreement, Says It Won’t Slow Their Oil Sales)
Some reports claim that the fan didn’t appear to be detained after the alleged incident, which is absolutely wild. Imagine doing this in America. Like Matthew Stafford had a bad game so you berated him and when he clapped back you just *CRACK* snapped a whip at him. What an insane series of events.
Of all the people to attack, too. Abdullah, whose squad lost 4-1, scored the lone goal for Al-Ittihad. And that’s how he gets rewarded?? What a shame.