Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal, head of the Saudi Football Federation, appeared to be at odds with his national team's coach over the latter’s decision for a long training session without playing any international friendlies.

In a statement published on the official website of Saudi Arabia's official website, Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal said, "We have given Calderon 10 days to explain and allay our concerns. This was regarding the changes in technical and administrative staff which have been carried out four times so far and the constant changes he makes in his plans."

"We also wanted to know the wisdom behind holding a training camp for two weeks before the finals without playing a single friendly match during the camp. We will soon know his answer."

"But I would like to assure you that changing coaches is not a habit with the Saudi Football Federation. There are few factors in deciding the future of Calderon and we should respect his ideas which led us to the 2006 finals without losing a single game. The defeat in the West Asian Games should not be looked at in isolation and we will not take those results into account while assessing him. We will assess him and his fitness to lead our team based on his preparation plans," the statement read.

The prince also said that the Saudi Football Federation is also trying to arrange international friendly games with France, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Morocco and Russia.

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