According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the decision of Italian Luigi Di Biagio, coach of the Saudi under-23 team, came for “administrative and disciplinary” reasons, after the two players were “about an hour late” from the scheduled time to return to the team’s residence, following the end of the free period granted to the players.

The Olympic Green continues its preparations to participate in the AFC U-23 Cup, which will be held in Riyadh and Jeddah during the period from January 6 to 24, 2026, with the participation of 16 teams.

The Italian coach chose a list of 24 players for the preparatory camp, which lasts until October 14, taking advantage of the international break that coincides with the first team’s matches against Indonesia and Iraq in the Asian playoff qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The draw for the Asian Championship resulted in Al-Akhdar falling into Group A alongside Vietnam, Jordan and Kyrgyzstan.

The Saudi national team has a single title in its history in the tournament, after winning gold in the “Uzbekistan 2022” edition under the leadership of national coach Saad Al-Shehri.
The Greens also reached the final twice in 2013 and 2020, and were satisfied with runner-up, while the Japanese national team tops the list of champions with two titles in the 2016 and 2024 editions.

Source: “Saudi media”