The Boss Renews Shiotani’s Contract Until 2021.. Hammad: Renewal for Japan’s International Player Was Approved Unanimously
Mohammed Obaid Hammad, Board Member of Al Ain Football Company and Supervisor of the First and Reserved Football Teams, announced that the decision to renew the contract of Japan’s Tsukasa Shiotani for two more seasons with the Al Ain FC was approved with one accord. “There was a consensus that it is important to retain such a quality player considering his superior and balanced performance during the past two seasons. He is a committed and professional player in and out the pitch, besides his sincere desire to defend the logo of the Boss and to stay with the team. Moreover, the player expressed his pleasure to remain with the squad of the Boss and we are happy he will remain with the team wishing him and his teammate all the best to achieve the Club’s desired goals.”
On the Club’s stand point of the rest of the players who are in the final six months of their contracts and the veracity of the media reports on the decision was taken not to renew the contracts of both Amer Abdul Rahman and Mohammed Abdul Rahman “Ajab”, Hammad stated: “The majority of the players will stay with team and so far no one expressed his desire to leave. However, certain players asked for more time due to personal issues, including Amer Abdul Rahman. We do want him to remain with the team for he is one of the key players and any coach would be more than happy to have him in his squad for his quality skills. Indeed, in the world of professionalism it is the player’s desire to stay with his team is so important, as well as the mutual agreement among the different parties regardless whether he is a player or a coach. Even if there is no agreement, Al Ain Club proved throughout its great history that it does not rely on a specific player or coach. I assure you that the remaining players will remain with the team and we started with Shiotani.”
As for the Egyptian media reports on signing with the Egypt’s Hussein El Shahat once again he said: “So far there are no official negotiations on signing with El Shahat. However, there are communications with certain agents to consider rejoining him to the team.” He further explained that the decision-making mechanism in the Club is based on reports of the Technical Committee for Professionalism and Until the moment there are no formal negotiations on the return of the Shehata to the eye, although there is contact from some agents to discuss the possibility of returning to the club, The club is based on the professional technical committee’s report and the coach’s vision he head coach vision and recommendation according to the team’s requirements. “Currently, we are examining options to determine who is going to be the head coach as the technical vision will be the critical factor to identify future requirements regardless of the player’s name or nationality.”
Again, on the offers presented to Algeria’s Abdul Rahman Meziane and the Iraqi Mohannad Ali, he said: “Some of what is being posted by the social media platforms is true. However, we have valid contracts with a number of foreign players and others are expired. We are examining files of certain players to enhance the lines of the team in the coming season. Yet and as I stated earlier, we would not adopt a fast-track policy until we take a final decision with regard to the head coach.”
Commenting on an inquiry about the Saudi player Salem Al Dosari, he said: “Salem’s name was offered to the Club, but as you all know the decision is not individual or administrative one as much as it is technical which the basis for any decision related to the players’ contracts. His name along with the other names will be presented to the head coach and the decision will be taken according to the team’s requirements.”
Regarding the team’s performance in the recent match against Al Hilal, he said: “We are satisfied with the team’s performance against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal. In fact, the players were well aware that the team has a thin hope to qualify to the last 16-team stage of the ACL 2019 prior the kickoff of the match. Anyway, the team did well in all the away matches where they drew in two matches and lost only one and there was a space to do better. Back to the match against Al Hilal, conceding the first goal in the first and last minute was a bad luck and above all we missed several easy chances to score that definitely would have changed the course of the match.”
“We have to close the chapter of the ACL 2019 and accurately analyze the reasons that led to current circumstances. We are facing challenges that require us to redouble our efforts and prepare the team for the coming season,” Hammad stated.
Commenting on a question on the current conditions of the injured players he said: “Injured players already joined a rehabilitation program to be ready for the coming season according to the head coach’s future plans, given that PLC has announced that the coming season will kick off on 19th August 2019. The team camp will be held at the same time of holding the UAE National Football Team. We look forward to meeting the team’s future requirements and that we have all the squad ready under the command of the head coach.”
Commenting on the statement “a season to be overlooked” considering the poor achievements of the team this season, he said: “I believe such a statement in the world of football is useless and will not be beneficial to any big team. It is a fact that we have to analyze the team’s performance to identify the positive and negative points. We have to boost the positive points and handle all the negative points and take advantage of the lessons learned in the future. We all learn from our mistakes and we do not have to forget the brilliant achievement of the team in the FIFA Club World Cup; it is not a forgettable moment.”
Hammad concluded, “The world of football is the world of unpredictable and nothing constant. Clubs are subject to commit mistakes and we have to admit that there are mistakes and drawbacks, but this is Al Ain Club and definitely will overcome the challenges and be back to the right track sooner.”
