Saudi footballers may be under 'magic spell'.

Saudi footballers may be under 'magic spell'.(Emirates24/7).Saudi footballers could be vulnerable to magic spells and should seek spiritual treatment before they enter the play field for a match, a prominent Saudi Islamic scholar was reported on Thursday as saying. Sheikh Khalid Al Guraisi, a well known scholar and Raqi (healer by Koran), said a recent series of defeats by Al Nasr Club in domestic football matches proved the players could have fallen prey to “magic or envious eyes” But a prominent sports writer in the Gulf Kingdom dismissed reports that Al Nasr has been under magic spell, saying its fans could be under that spell. “Some Saudi football clubs could fall under a collective magic spell or envious eyes…such things are accepted in religion,” Guraisi said. “I know there are people in some clubs who use magic to affect players at another club…some of them do this through an experienced magician and the magic work could be concealed near the goal in the play field…in other cases, the magician could be present during the match to affect players.” Guraisi said he believes some clubs pay large sums of money for magic work, adding that such work largely affects the match results. He cited one case in which a Saudi player succeeded in reaching goal area of the other team by sidestepping five players but failed to score. “He was alone in the goal area after managing to elude five players…when he was there, he just fell down without scoring…this player, I think, was under a magic spell or an envious eye and had to be treated,” he said. “There should be a sort of spiritual immunization of the players who fall under a magic spell before they go to the match…I wonder why Saudi clubs do not seek the help of Raqis to heal their players,” he said. Juraisi’s comments to the Saudi Arabic language daily Sharq followed last month’s furor in the world’s dominant oil power that Al Nasr, one of the largest sport clubs in the Gulf Kingdom, has been under magic spell following a recent series of defeats and bad performance by some of its players. Newspapers quoted some Al Nasr officials as admitting their players could be under a spell. “If Al Nasr club is under a state of magic, then I believe it is the club’s fans who are under the spell not the club,” Mohammed al Duwaish, a well known Saudi sport writer and lawyer, said in remarks attacking that club. “Blaming magic for the recent bad performance shows that the club is not frank with itself nor does it see itself well in the mirror.” Another scholar also criticized Al Nasr, saying the club was only trying to blame magic for its bad performance. “I have consulted with many Sheikhs and scholars and all of them agreed with me that the club is not under a magic spell…what has been said about that spell is just an excuse to justify its failure,” Sheikh Basil al Sabei said.Hmmm.....Do you get a new coach or a Priest?Read the full story here.