Rashid now 'free' to play for Al Jazira

Abu Dhabi: The saga of Rashid Abdul Rahman, the former defender of UAE and Al Shaab club, came to an end as his club accepted his move to Al Jazira in a Dh3 million deal.

Rashid created quite a row when he moved to Switzerland to play professional football with Yverdon club despite his club's refusal. Both the player and Al Shaab appealed to Fifa to solve their dispute and the international body was on favour of the transfer .

Rashid wanted to come back home and play for Al Jazira but according to the regulations of the UAE FA, he had to get the consent of his old club Al Shaab, but the club's management refused to negotiate either with him or with Al Jazira.

Shaikh Abdullah Bin Salem Al Qasimi, the President of Al Shaab, announced that a delegation from Al Jazira visited them to negotiate the transfer of Rashid and that they would do so only if Rashid apologised publicly for his act of desertion.

Rashid apologised three times publicly and held a press conference three days ago to repeat it before his colleagues in Al Shaab.

On Sunday, the Al Shaab's management announced that they had no more reservations to accept the offer from Al Jazira and the player could now join his new team.