According to reports, just hours before Al Hilal’s semi-final match against Al Ahli Saudi in the AFC Champions League, the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee issued a verdict against Al Hilal due to incidents that occurred during the quarter-final match.

The AFC Disciplinary Committee announced that Al Hilal has been fined $40,000 due to the behavior of their fans. However, the punishment is not solely due to fan misconduct.

The AFC stated that Al Hilal was penalized because their supporters used smoke bombs and pyrotechnics during the match against Gwangju, as well as for the team’s delayed entry onto the pitch at the start of the second half.

The timing of the AFC’s decision, issued just hours before the match against Al Ahli, has angered Al Hilal fans. This is not the AFC’s only action against the Saudi club. The AFC had previously rejected two tifo (mosaic display) proposals submitted by Al Hilal’s fan group for approval.

The newspaper Al-Riyadhiya reports that the reason for the rejection of Al Hilal’s tifos for the match against Al Ahli was that fans threw plastic objects used in the display onto the pitch during the game against Gwangju.