{"id":15492,"date":"2025-07-07T15:18:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T07:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/?p=15492"},"modified":"2025-07-07T15:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T07:18:10","slug":"the-player-who-had-to-flee-al-hilal-to-save-his-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/news\/the-player-who-had-to-flee-al-hilal-to-save-his-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The player who had to flee Al-Hilal to save his life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n

Eammon O’Keefe was living a life of luxury when he was signed by Al-Hilal, but because of unrequited love, he had to flee the country<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1976, Englishman Eamonn O\u2019Keefe<\/strong> made history by becoming the first European player to play in Saudi Arabia<\/strong>. At the age of 22, the striker swapped the cold of Manchester for the scorching heat of the desert when he signed with Al-Hilal<\/strong>. The offer was irresistible: a tax-free salary, apartment, car, telephone (something considered a luxury at the time) and all-expenses paid for international travel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, behind the million-dollar contract and the perks, an unexpected situation led the young man to make a drastic decision: to flee the country to protect his life and that of his family because of an unrequited love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The invitation and arrival in the Middle East<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Keefe was playing for the modest Hyde United, in an amateur league in England, when he received a call from George Smith, his former coach, who had recently accepted to manage Al-Hilal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after, O\u2019Keefe embarked on a trial period. Despite being concerned about the intense heat and cultural differences, his performance was convincing. Within two weeks, the Saudi leaders decided to hire him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it was time to sign the contract, he heard the following phrase from Prince Abdullah bin Nasser, then president of Al-Hilal and grandson of the founder of Saudi Arabia: \u201cWrite whatever you want\u201d. O\u2019Keefe asked for an apartment, a car and a plane ticket to settle pending matters in England. Everything was granted immediately, without any imposition from the prince.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Declaration of love in an elevator<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the life of luxury soon turned into a tense scene. O\u2019Keefe was invited by the prince to take a trip with one of his wives. They would start in England and then make a tour, passing through France, Italy and Tunisia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, one day, after a night out at a casino in Nice, France, the two were in a panoramic elevator and O\u2019Keefe was surprised by a confession: \u201cI\u2019m a fan, I love you.\u201d Disconcerted, the player retorted: \u201cLike a brother?\u201d The answer was clear: \u201cNo. Not like a brother.\u201d O\u2019Keefe gently said he was not interested. The prince then said that they would return to having a relationship just as \u201cpresident and player\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Keefe then realized that he was in a complicated situation. However, he needed to act cautiously. Back in Saudi Arabia, he revealed the story to coach George Smith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the instructions were clear: \u201cYou can\u2019t stay here any longer. The prince won\u2019t take no for an answer.\u201d Pretending that his father was ill, the attacker asked for permission to travel to England in a hurry. The prince, however, hesitated, but allowed him to board. With only enough clothes to last a week\u2014so as not to arouse suspicion\u2014O\u2019Keefe left the country with his family and never returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasty escape to England<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in England, but fearful of being persecuted, he asked the English Football Association (FA) for help to officially release himself from his contract with Al-Hilal. However, to cut ties once and for all, he was advised by the directors to say the following to the prince: \u201cI told my wife what happened and she was horrified. I\u2019m not coming back.\u201d When Abdullah called, O\u2019Keefe repeated the phrase. There was no answer on the other end of the line. It was the last time he had contact with the director. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, freed from his contract, the striker continued his career in Europe, defending clubs such as Everton and the Irish national team, the country that chose to allow him to be of national origin. In a recent interview with the British TV network BBC, O\u2019Keefe said that he still remembers his Saudi teammates fondly and regrets not having said goodbye to them. \u201cThey were fantastic. Without a wife and children, I might have stayed. But at that moment, I felt that my life was at risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eammon O’Keefe was living a life of luxury when he was signed by Al-Hilal, but […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":15493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15492"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15494,"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15492\/revisions\/15494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbscore.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}