The departure of Rui Pedro Braz from Al Ahli continues to be shrouded in controversy and has gained a new chapter in the last few hours. The Saudi club did not reveal the reasons for the Portuguese sporting director's removal, but several versions began circulating in the international press, including corruption accusations that would ultimately be withdrawn by the author himself.
Sacha Tavolieri, a Belgian journalist specializing in the transfer market, initially advanced a particularly serious version about the departure of the former Benfica executive. According to Tavolieri, Rui Pedro Braz's removal from Al Ahli would be related to alleged suspicions of corruption in the process that took Artem Bondarenko from Shakhtar to the Saudi club.
The Ukrainian midfielder has since been targeted by booing from Al Ahli fans themselves. In the version initially released by the journalist, Bondarenko and his agent allegedly requested an annual salary of 1.3 million euros. Rui Pedro Braz allegedly proposed a higher salary than requested, which raised suspicions of irregularities in the deal. The journalist ended up retracting the initially advanced accusations.