Al Hilal CEO Esteve Calzada has accused Ronald Koeman of lacking knowledge about the quality of the Saudi Pro League after the Netherlands manager said winger Steven Bergwijn would no longer be considered for selection following his summer move to Al Ittihad.
Former PSV Eindhoven and Tottenham forward Bergwijn joined Ittihad from Ajax last month and was publicly called out by Koeman who said the "book is basically closed" on his international career.
Bergwijn responded by expressing his disappointment in Koeman for publicly calling him out in the media and defended his decision to join the Jeddah club by saying "the competition in Saudi Arabia is at a great level".
Calzada, a former executive at Manchester City, has now weighed into the situation and said Koeman is undervaluing the Saudi top-flight, which in the last two years, helped by the country's Public Investment Fund, has spent a huge sum of money attracting top talent from across the world.
"As someone that lives in the country, loves the country and values the quality of the product that we put out there, I didn't like those statements," Calzada told a press conference at The Summit, a gathering of top sporting executives in London.
"I think this is just not fair. It's not right. And actually, if you look at the players that have come to Saudi, most of them continue to go with their national teams."
A total of 14 Saudi Pro League players were called up to their national squads for the European Championship in the summer, many of them retaining their places in the starting teams. Following the tournament, England international Ivan Toney and Portugal full-back Joao Cancelo also moved to Saudi with Al Ahli and Hilal respectively.
Despite Koeman's stance, the Dutch coach still called up Al Ettifaq midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum to his Euro 2024 squad.
"You've got [Aymeric] Laporte, for instance, [who became] champion of Europe with Spain having come to Saudi," Calzada said.
"Most of the players continue to be called by national teams, Ruben Neves (Portugal) in our case, even [Al Nassr's] Cristiano [Ronaldo], [Morocco's] Bono our goalkeeper - all of them continue to be called up.
"That's why that came a bit out of the blue, and probably out of a lack of knowledge of the value and the quality of the league, because if you watch matches, or you come and see the facilities, they are up to European standards. So I'm just so sorry for the Dutch players because it's clearly an exception."
The Spaniard also spoke of his hope that marquee €90 million ($97.48m) signing Neymar would soon return to action having been out for almost a year after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in a World Cup 2026 qualifier for Brazil.
"The only thing that I can say is that I have seen him training regularly with his teammates, and now, after the international break, there's a run of matches," Calzada said.
"Sadly, if he has to play, he cannot play (in) the league because he's not registered, but certainly he can play in the [AFC] Champions League."
Al Hilal, managed by Jorge Jesus, top Group B in the AFC Champions League Elite on six points from two matches and face the UAE's defending Asian champions Al Ain in the competition on Monday.
The Riyadh club have started the campaign perfectly, winning all six Pro League matches to begin their title defence having won the Saudi Super Cup in the season curtain-raiser. They host Al Feiha on Friday evening.
