Prince Sultan Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz, President of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare (GPYW) in Saudi Arabia, has ordered a full investigation of the beating of a TV reporter during a major soccer match, an official source at the presidency said on Friday. Security guards at the King Fahd International Stadium were shown live on TV as they beat up Badr Rafea, a TV reporter who was covering final match of the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Cup in Riyadh on Wednesday night. Rafea, a reporter for the sports channel of prominent broadcaster Arab Radio and Television (ART), was seen by millions being kicked and beaten by at least 15 security guards during the match between Saudi teams Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal, which the latter lost 2-1. The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the unidentified source as saying that confrontation began when Rafea was making a TV interview while carrying an expired identification card which is against the instructions. “The supervisor of security and safety at the stadium asked him to leave the area but the reporter refused, insisted on staying and asked the supervisor to stay away in order to continue his work,” the source said. “After that, the supervisor of security and safety asked one of the security (personnel) to seize the card of the reporter (after he) said harsh and impolite words.” The source added that after receiving the results of the investigations, the President of Youth Welfare issued the following decisions: 1- The personnel of the industrial security company who caused this incident will be banned from working or participating in the sports events at GPYW facilities. 2- Industrial security companies should be obligated to train their personnel to the highest levels of awareness and good manners. 3- ART should assign reporters who have high morals and are able to adhere to regulations and instructions. The source quoted Prince Sultan Bin Fahd as saying that the rights and dignity of people should be preserved, and infringement on them is unacceptable in any circumstances. He said that the best apology for both parties is to follow the regulations issued by GPYW. As for the legal and criminal issues in the case, the source said that the relevant security bodies have started their duties. Rafea's beating has stirred considerable controversy over the weekend. Video clips of the incident quickly found their way to several Internet video sites, including Google's popular YouTube. ART reran the video bites many times on Thursday and Friday. Rafea told the London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat that he had been setting up a quick interview with one of Al-Nasr's players when he was attacked. He added that he was working within the confines of the media area on the soccer pitch of the stadium, one of the biggest in the world, along with many other reporters who were interviewing players and officials of the two rival teams. “Five or six security guards suddenly rushed at me and yelled at me to get out,” he said. “I asked them to be patient, because I was about to go on the air in 15 seconds with Nasr defender Isam Al-Mirdasi.” At that moment, he said, “one of them grabbed and pulled at my press badge and tore it off of my neck.” He said that he only warned them to leave him alone because he was about to go live. “The next thing I know, they were all over me, kicking and punching the living daylights out of me,” said Rafea. “One of them knocked me down, and I felt my knee cap snapping.” He added that he felt it was a premeditated attack. “In self-defense, I wielded and brandished the microphone that was in my hand to scare them off me,” he said. “That mic is really heavy, and I could've hurt someone if I had hit them with it, but my friends managed to pry me away from their throes. Even the cops treated me like a criminal.” Rafea further said that after he was taken to a police patrol car outside the stadium, Salman Al-Namshan, the stadium's security manager, threatened him. He added that he had filed a law suit against Namshan and his security guards with the police precinct in Riyadh's Rawda district. Rafea said that he was positive that Prince Sultan Bin Fahd will not leave this issue without taking action against the offenders. “It was a disgrace to see (the security guards) beat and drag him as they did,” said Ammar Bahakeem, another ART reporter who was also covering the match. “He's not a terrorist or a criminal who deserves to be treated that way.” Bahakeem said that Namshan was the only one to blame, since he is the one who issues the marching orders to his personnel. He added that the King Fahd Stadium is the only sports venue in the Kingdom where reporters always get into trouble with security guards. In a show of force after the incident, as many as nine reporters resigned from ART in protest. Walid Al-Farraj, ART's Saudi soccer coverage producer, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday that he had received resignation letters from Rafea and Bahakeem, in addition to reporters Abdullah Othaibi, Abdurrahman Dhayyem, Saeed Al-Hilal, Omar Jughaiman, Abdulaziz Al-Jumayah, Riyadh Al-Mizher and Faisal Al-Malouqi. They cited fear for their lives and what they said was the lack of security in future Saudi soccer matches. The resignations effectively mean that ART is left with no reporters to cover Saudi soccer. No ART reporter covered Friday's match between Al-Hilal and Al-Shabab in the same stadium. He said he had received calls from the families of the reporters asking him to clarify the security situation in major Saudi soccer matches. “I can't risk being responsible for the possible death of any of my reporters,” he said. “What if one of the security guards had kicked Rafea in the head and killed him? I simply can't reject their resignations, until things are clear.” He confirmed that the current security situation is hazardous to all reporters. Farraj said he hopes that those responsible for the incident would get the punishment they deserved. Sami Al-Shuwairekh, spokesman for the Riyadh Police Department, told the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat that police are investigating the incident in preparation for taking it to court. Al-Hayat said that the stadium's management had not sent a representative to check on Rafea's condition in hospital. Muhiddin Saleh Kamel, ART's sports director, said what happened was disquieting. “Even if Rafea had done something wrong, whatever he had done should not prompt 10 or 15 security guards to beat him up like an animal,” said Kamel. He added that Namshan had committed serious of errors and misjudgments in the way he managed the incident. “This does not present a good image of Saudi sports seen by millions,” he said. __
