Edouard Mendy urges Al-Ahli fans to back every player after big win

Edouard Mendy has rejected suggestions that Al-Ahli’s players were involved in the decision to remove former sporting director Rui Pedro Braz, while calling on supporters to stand behind the whole squad.

The Senegal goalkeeper spoke after Al-Ahli’s 5-0 victory over Al-Riyadh at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium on Friday, a result that ended the club’s run of two successive defeats in the Roshn Saudi League.

Braz’s departure was announced by Al-Ahli on Thursday, less than a year after he took up the role. After the match, Mendy was asked about reports that the players had helped influence the decision.

Thmanyah, the broadcaster of the Saudi league, had reported that Al-Ahli’s players held a meeting with the club’s management after their 3-0 defeat by Al-Hilal in the previous Tuesday’s delayed classic, calling for the sporting director to be dismissed.

But Mendy denied that the squad had taken such action.

“We are football players, and we do not make such decisions,” he said in comments reported by Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.

“The place where we have to speak is on the pitch, and that is where our response should be. We are players before anything else. No one is bigger than the club, and no one will ever be bigger than the club.”

Mendy also criticised the jeers directed at new midfielder Artem Bondarenko during the entire match against Al-Riyadh. The Ukraine international joined Al-Ahli from Shakhtar Donetsk.

“I want to make it clear that we are united. Just as I say to the fans that we are with them, we also need them to be with us,” Mendy said.

“They have to support us and support every player in the team. As long as a player is here and wears the club shirt, we all have to stand behind him.”

He referred to the reception given to another player by Al-Ahli supporters 10 days earlier, saying that player was now part of the club’s family.

“Only 10 days ago, the fans gave an exceptional welcome to one of the players, and he is now a member of the team and part of this family,” Mendy added.

“What is bigger than everyone is this family and this club – the biggest club in Asia, not only in Saudi Arabia.”

Mendy said Al-Ahli had a duty to set an example beyond the domestic game.

“We have a responsibility to show Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom, Asia and the world that we are the best club,” he said.

“We want every player who comes here to feel welcome and happy to be here, exactly as our fans have always done with every one of us.”

He added: “These things must not change. We love our fans and care about them, and I am sure they love every one of us too.”

Al-Ahli’s victory came after a 3-1 defeat by Al-Kholood in the fourth round, followed by the loss to Al-Hilal in the postponed third-round fixture.

“We knew among ourselves that we had not done enough in the previous two matches,” Mendy said. “The story of each match was different, but it was clear that what we produced was not enough. That is not our true character.”

He said the squad had spent the week discussing how to recover.

“We talked a lot during this week and reminded ourselves of the things that make us strong,” he said. “We knew we would play at home and that we had to get the three points to return to the right path, and that is what we did.”

Mendy added that Al-Ahli’s busy schedule should not become a source of anxiety.

“We play and prepare for every match,” he said. “We are one of the clubs that play the most matches in Saudi Arabia and Asia, so we only have to focus on our work, believe in ourselves and continue working hard, because our success will only come through work and standing together.”