Pressure Mounts on Pusic Over Bondarenko's Exclusion at Al-Ahli

Artem Bondarenko has become a problem Marino Pusic can no longer hide from.

Al-Ahli’s new Ukrainian midfielder, once a handpicked signing by the Dutch coach, has been dropped again on the eve of the Roshn League clash with Al-Hazm, a decision that has only sharpened the glare on the man who brought him to Jeddah.

Al-Ahli face Al-Hazm today, Friday, at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah in the seventh round of the Saudi Roshn League. The build-up should have been about tactics and momentum. Instead, it is dominated by one name that will not even be on the team sheet.

Saudi journalist Waleed Saeed revealed on X that Pusic has once more excluded Bondarenko from the matchday squad, along with Brazilian winger Matheus Goncalves. For Bondarenko, it is becoming a familiar humiliation.

This is the third time the 26-year-old has been left out of the squad entirely since his summer move from Shakhtar Donetsk. Three omissions already, and the season is barely into its rhythm.

His minutes have been scattered and uneasy. Bondarenko has appeared for “Al-Raqi” only twice: in the 1-3 defeat to Al-Khaleej in the fourth round and the emphatic 5-0 victory over Al-Riyadh in the fifth. Two games, two very different results, but no real foothold for the midfielder.

Everywhere else, he has simply vanished from the list.

Pusic left him out of the 0-3 loss to Al-Hilal in the third round, then again for the 2-3 defeat to Al-Qadsiah in the sixth. Now comes the extension of that exile against Al-Hazm. Another game, another empty space where his name was supposed to be.

Each omission tightens the knot around Pusic. This was his call, his player. He had coached Bondarenko at Shakhtar between 2023 and 2025 and pushed for his signing in Jeddah, convinced he could translate that understanding into an asset for Al-Ahli.

Instead, it has turned into a flashpoint.

Al-Ahli fans never truly embraced the deal. Many rejected the move before it was even completed, and the mood only darkened once Bondarenko stepped onto the pitch. During the 5-0 win over Al-Riyadh, they jeered him, making their stance brutally clear in a game that should have been a comfortable showcase.

He has not featured since.

Now Pusic walks into a key league fixture with his own judgment under scrutiny and one of his marquee decisions sitting in the stands again. The coach backed Bondarenko. The crowd did not. The selection sheet shows who is winning that argument for now.

How long can that stand in a club where patience, and loyalty to a struggling signing, rarely last?