Al-Hilal posted an announcement on the official website stating that they will not participate in the Saudi Super Cup.
Official statement from the club
Al Hilal Football Club Company has officially decided that the first football team will not participate in the 2025/2026 edition of the Saudi Super Cup. This decision was transferred by an official letter sent to the Saudi Aarabic Football Federation (Saff), in which the club described the reasons that led to the withdrawal from the tournament.
The club explained that the Saudi Super Cup draw, held on 19 June 2025, took place only one day after the opening match of Al Hilal in the group phase of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, against Real Madrid. The Saudi representative continued his honorable campaign by going to the round of 16 and then the quarterfinals, which took place on July 4, 2025. After that match, the team had to stay three extra days in Orlando due to flight restrictions, which reduced the annual leave of the players to just 24 days in the case of super copy when the club participated in the club. This violates the Clause (5.6) of the compulsory contracts included in the appendices of professionalism and player status regulations issued by Saff, which stipulates that players are entitled to a minimum of 28 days annual leave – a condition that has already been included in all professional players' contracts of the first team of Al Hilal.
The letter also noted that these exceptional circumstances have overlap the annual leave of the players with the preparations for the season of other competing clubs. As a result, Hilal was already forced to postpone the start of his own preparations for the coming season, which further increased the competitive imbalance among participating clubs.
Moreover, on 1 June 2025 the domestic competition schedule did not mention that the Super Cup would be held in Hong Kong. The location of the tournament was only announced on 13 June 2025 – at which point the delegation of Al Hilal had already traveled to the US, and none of their matches had been played yet. The end date of their international participation was also unknown at that time.
The company repeated its pride in participating in the Saudi Super Cup, a tournament that the club has won several times. However, the decision came after an evaluation of the physical and muscular state of different players, who showed signs of extreme fatigue after a demanding season that lasted a full year and a week. Many players also participated in national team obligations without any rest, which led directly to the club World Cup. This increases the risk of multiple injuries. That is why the decision not to participate is not only the interest of the club, but also that of the Saudi national team, which is preparing for a training camp in October prior to the play -offs of the World Cup qualifying -with many already Hilal players who would be expected to participate.
In his letter, the management of Al Hilal called on alternative solutions that could continue the tournament and achieve his marketing and promotional goals for Saudi sports in Hong Kong – without the participation of Al Hilal – in the recognition of the exceptional circumstances that the team was confronted with. The main goal behind the withdrawal, the club emphasized, was to guarantee the health and willingness of its international players for the national team camp and the rest of the domestic competitions, after a long and demanding season in which Hilal proudly represented the Kingdom in the FIFA Club World Cup.