Derby Sanctions After Kuwait-Qadsia Clash
The Kuwait Football Association's disciplinary committee decided to impose sanctions on those responsible for the events surrounding the Kuwait vs Qadsia match, played last Friday in the fourth round of the Kuwait Premier League, which Kuwait won 2-1.
After the match, when Qadsia pressed for a stoppage-time penalty and video review overturned it, a group of fans and club officials entered the field to protest the referee’s decision, and clashes occurred between some of them and members of both teams’ technical staff.
The Kuwait Football Association published an official statement on its X account detailing the penalties for both clubs, with separate lists for each team. The penalties were described as stringent and were deemed necessary to curb a phenomenon that has affected many important matches in the Kuwaiti league.
For Qadsia, the club’s vice president Fahd Talal Al-Sabah was fined 10,000 dinars, banned from attending matches for three years, and barred from entering the stadium and locker rooms for three years.
The media coordinator Abdullah Al-Ansari was suspended and barred from attending matches, stadium access, and locker rooms for three years, with a 5,000-dinar fine; coach Nabil Maaloul was banned from entering the stadium and locker rooms for four matches and fined 3,000 dinars for inappropriate conduct.
Additionally, board member Mohammad Reza Maarefi faced a one-year ban from entering stadiums; player Abdul Aziz Wadi and officials Faisal Hussein and Fahd Al-Kandari were banned for four matches with a 1,000-dinar fine each.
Furthermore, the latest sanctions on Qadsia barred anyone from the main platform during four home games, and the club was fined 10,000 dinars.
On the Kuwait side, penalties included fining Kuwait president Khaled Al-Ghanim 10,000 dinars, banning him from attending matches for three years, and prohibiting him from entering the stadium and locker rooms for three years.
In addition, Mohammed Khaled Al-Ghanim and Mushari Khaled Al-Ghanim were banned from stadium access for one year; Adel Aqla and Mohammad Al-Hajri received four-match bans from attendance and stadium access and were fined 5,000 dinars each; player Ibrahim Kamel was suspended for four matches and fined 1,000 dinars.
Similarly, Nasser Al-Hajri and Khaled Al-Hajri were banned from stadiums for one year; Kuwait’s assistant coach Karim Bouzgba and physiotherapist Ibrahim Falah Al-Dhifiri were banned for four matches with 1,000-dinar fines each.
Finally, the committee barred any person from the main platform during Kuwait’s home matches for four games, and Kuwait was fined 10,000 dinars.
The match itself was eventful: Kuwait moved to 10 points atop the table, while Qadsia remained second with seven. Kuwait opened the scoring with a powerful long-range effort from Mohammad Marhon in the 29th minute, then a stoppage-time first-half penalty by Taha Yasin Khneisi doubled the lead. Qadsia pulled closer in the 84th minute through Bader Al-Mutawa after a clever pass, and Sufian Bouchaar of Qadsia saw a red card in stoppage time (90+9).
Qadsia appealed for a penalty, but VAR overturned the claim; the referee blew for full time, prompting protests from Qadsia’s management. Security and referees worked to contain the situation, with chaos spilling onto the pitch and stands as the disciplinary process unfolded.
Media reports also noted that Egyptian star Mahmoud Abdel Moneim \"Kahraba\" was involved in the fray with Kuwait player Amro Abdul-Fattah. The Kuwait Football Association stated their unequivocal rejection of such behaviours, directing all involved to the disciplinary committee for maximum sanctions and fueling broader debate about the league’s reputation.
Punchlines time: 1) If patience were a sport, VAR would be a legendary sniper—always taking aim, and sometimes taking forever to pull the trigger. 2) In this derby, the whistle was louder than any argument—proving that comedy and chaos can share the same mic when it’s time for the final whistle.
