Western Sydney Wanderers are going to great lengths to ensure their supporters can travel to Saudi Arabia for the final of the Asian Champions League but there is no guarantee female and Jewish supporters will be granted entry visas.
The Wanderers face Al-Hilal in Riyadh on November 1 in the second leg of the continental decider but a section of their supporters may be denied a chance to witness a potential Asian title due to their gender, race or religious background.
The club is in the process of arranging travel packages with the support of Al-Hilal and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation but it will not be known until the end of the week whether unaccompanied females and Jewish supporters will be able to travel due to the strict laws of the nation.
The club has received over 200 enquiries for away tickets and is finalising the travel package – which will cater for match tickets, travel, accommodation and visas – with the blessing of relevant authorities. It is hoped the tour will allow for female supporters to attend but there is still no indication it will be sufficient enough to allow entry for supporters of Jewish background.
Due to conservative legislation, women face difficulties in obtaining tourist visas for Saudi Arabia while those of Jewish heritage, Israelis or even those who have visited Israel, are not permitted entry.
While AFC regulations state a club's fans must be allowed access without prejudice, their stature does not overrule state legislation.
"There needs to be an invitation. We are working with the FFA [Football Federation of Australia], AFC [Asian Football Confederation], the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and Al-Hilal to obtain an invitation for our supporters to travel," a Wanderers spokesman said.
Single women must be in the company of a male relative or their husband and travel with marriage certificates to obtain a tourist visa, or must be escorted at all times as part of a supervised tourism group.
Saudi football has a long history of banning women from attending games. The nation allowed females to attend matches only last year, and under harsh restricitions.
Only selected stadiums cater for segregated sections, which prevent male and female supporters standing next to each other. Under pressure from international organisations, the Saudi Arabian domestic league allowed a number of women to attend the games in reserved sections of the stadium, as per the custom of many public events.
There are also concerns that should female Wanderers fans be granted visas, they will also be seggregated once within King Fahd Stadium. One of the proposed options for the tour is to station supporters in a nearby Gulf nation before the match and fly them into Riyadh for game day, to ensure a safe passage to and from the stadium and in and out of Saudi Arabia.
The club has not yet received any advice for homosexual Wanderers supporters wishing to travel to the second leg, but the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trading states: "Homosexual activity is illegal and penalties include the death penalty."
It is understood Wanderers are working with the AFC to arrange a way for their chairman, Paul Lederer to attend the match under arrangements often reserved for diplomats.
Lederer, who is Jewish, is understood to be keen to attend the match, but faces difficulty in obtaining a visa.
The club hopes Lederer can bypass those laws under unspecified arrangements as an invited special guest of the AFC. Competition regulations state: "Hosting Club and its National Association must guarantee and ensure that access to the stadium will be granted to the AFC delegation, officials and players of the visiting club, sponsors, travelling fans and media without any discrimination of gender, race or nationality."
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