The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) has issued a statement saying the squad had landed safely after an engine on the team plane had a “technical failure”.
Saudi Arabia, who play Uruguay tomorrow in World Cup group A, were flying to Rostov-on-Don when an engine caught fire mid-flight, Sky Sports reports.
Saudi player Hatan Bahbir said on Twitterthat the squad had “arrived safely” and were “all fine”. Bahbir added: “It was a simple malfunction.”
SAFF also tweeted: “The Saudi Arabian Football Federation would like to reassure everyone that all the Saudi national team players are safe after a technical failure in one of the aeroplane engines that has just landed in Rostov-on-Don airport, and now they’re heading to their residence safely.”
Saudi’s match against Uruguay starts at 4pm tomorrow. They lost their opening group fixture 5-0 against host nation Russia.