Prince banned from media for ethnic slur

King issues order in line with pledge to treat all Saudis equally

Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has banned a senior member of the royal family from appearing on public and private television channels after he uttered remarks deemed racist.

Prince Mamdouh Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud, an honorary member of the Riyadh-based Al Nasr sports club, has also been prevented from making statements to print or audio media and from taking part in all sports activities.

The ban was imposed by King Salman after Prince Mamdouh in a live talk show on Saudi Sports Television questioned the merit of Adnan Jestiyeh, a sports writer, to comment on Saudi sports, referring to him as “Tarsh”.

The term is a pejorative reference to “pilgrim remnants”, usually young children left in the kingdom by their parents as they performed pilgrimage.

The ethnic slur is at times used against them even though they have been living for generations in Saudi Arabia and have been given their rights as full Saudi citizens.

Prince Mamdouh said over the phone that non-Saudis who did not know the history of sports in the kingdom could not comment on games.

“Can we here in Saudi Arabia bring someone from the Tarsh to talk about Saudi sports?” the prince asked.

Shocked by the slur, Jestiyeh told the talk host who was himself baffled by the prince’s derogatory remarks that he would not continue the conversation.

Several sports writers and figures condemned the remarks and the Saudi sports media committee issued a statement supporting Jestiyeh and criticising the derogatory terms used by the former Al Nasr president.

In March, King Salman insisted that all Saudis were equal.