Badr Al-Raziza’s slate becomes sole approved ticket in Saudi FA election

Badr bin Sulaiman Al-Raziza’s list has emerged as the only ticket to meet the initial requirements for the Saudi Arabian Football Federation’s presidential and board elections, putting him in a strong position to succeed Yasser Al-Misehal.

The Saudi FA election committee approved Al-Raziza’s list among the preliminary candidates for the federation’s sixth electoral cycle after completing its examination and verification of the submitted documents.

The review examined whether all candidates had fulfilled the conditions and requirements set out in the federation’s election regulations. The committee’s decision has dramatically altered a contest that had been expected to feature competition between several groups.

Seven lists were initially submitted during the nomination period for the presidency and membership of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation board. One of those lists later withdrew, leaving six tickets to undergo the committee’s formal review and scrutiny.

However, the committee announced that Al-Raziza’s list was the only one to satisfy all the required nomination conditions. The other five lists did not fulfil the requirements specified in the regulations and therefore were not included among the initially approved tickets.

Al-Raziza’s proposed board includes Luay Mashabi as its candidate for vice-president. Lamia Bahaian, Fahad Al-Mansour, Salman Al-Sudairi, Tamer Al-Saadoun, Omar Al-Juraish, Nicholas Coward and Gerard Rodi are listed as candidates for board membership.

The approval means Al-Raziza’s group now occupies a position of clear prominence in the election process, having become the only list to pass the document-checking stage. It still faces the remaining procedures set out in the approved electoral timetable before the process is completed.

The development represents a major change from the expected shape of the Saudi FA election. Attention had initially been focused on a contest involving multiple presidential and board lists, but the outcome of the eligibility review has transformed the balance of the race.

Al-Raziza’s list is therefore the only ticket currently approved at the preliminary stage. The election committee will continue with the remaining steps in line with the timetable governing the sixth electoral cycle.

The decision does not conclude the full election process, but it gives Al-Raziza’s slate the clearest route forward after the initial assessment. With the five rival lists failing to meet the stated requirements, the election has taken an unexpected direction before the subsequent procedures are completed.