The video featuring the reaction of authority chairman, Turki al-Sheikh, was published on Twitter.

"We've done everything we could for the national team players," he said.

"We've been covering all their expenses for three years, we've hired the best coaching team and a world-class head coach for them, but they did not fulfil what was required of them even by five percent.

We must accept this reality, their abilities and capabilities are like that."

Saudi Arabia suffered a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Russia in the first match of the tournament at Moscow's 81,000-seater Luzhniki Stadium.

Al-Sheikh added that he was fully responsible for the poor performance of the national team. He said it was necessary to start training about 1,000 Saudi young men aged 12-16 in order to create a strong national team.

The World Cup will continue through July 15, with a total of 64 matches set to be played at 12 stadiums across 11 Russian cities.