“Pay up!” Mike tells Saudi football club

Welshpool businessman and TNS Football Club owner Mike Harris has taken to social media to make an impassioned plea for a Saudi Arabian football club to pay up the transfer fee they owe for a star player.

Mr Harris says he is still owed $250,000 (around £200,000) following the transfer of Brad Young to Al-Orobah FC in the Saudi Pro League last year.

Earlier this year, he called on FIFA to intervene, but with still no sign of the money dropping into the TNS account, Mr Harris, who also owns the Pinewood, Hogs Inn – The Breidden and other local businesses, has gone public once again.

Taking to X, he posted @ALOROBAH_EN when are you going to pay your transfer fee to @tnsfc? It looks very bad on Saudi football.”

He also tagged major media outlets such as the BBC, Sky Sports and The Guardian, as well as FIFA.

Following an appeal to the FIFA Players’ Status Chamber regarding the outstanding transfer fee owed for Young, Al-Orobah FC were given 45 days to pay the first instalment of $150K plus 5% interest to TNS.

Consequently, the second instalment of the transfer fee, which was due on January 1, 2025, also wasn’t paid to the club. The club lodged a further claim with FIFA regarding the second sum of $100K.

FIFA General Secretary, Mattias Grafström, had proposed that the second instalment of the transfer fee be paid within a 45-day period of February 21, 2025.

But Mr Harris says he is still waiting.