Jota hit with Saudi ban threat as former Celtic star sees Al-Ittihad served debt warning from league chiefs

New recruit Jota has been threatened with a shock ban from playing for his new club after Saudi Arabian football authorities demanded his new club Al-Ittihad pay their debts.

The former Celtic star sealed a sensational £25 million deal to the Middle East last week after two hugely successful years with the Hoops. His club have also brought in French superstar Karim Benzema and former Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante as their marquee signings for the new season. But they have been stunned by a demand by the Saudi FA to pay their debts immediately, according to Saudi Arabian newspaper Okaz, or face a ban from fielding their new signings.

Al-Ittihad Club reportedly owe £20 million in debts and have been handed a deadline of the start of the King Salman Club Cup competition - an Arab version of the Champions League - on July 27 to prove they are debt-free. If they fail to do that, they will be hit with a registration ban that would prevent them from including any new signings for the forthcoming competition and the Saudi Professional League.

Portuguese ace Jota is due to make his bow for Al-Ittihad Club in their first game in the group stages later this month against Esperance de Tunis in Taif, with the league campaign due to start later this year. But that's now shrouded in doubt unless Al-Ittihad get their finances in order.

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