Warriors international Ovidy Karuru has talked about his time in Saudi Arabia.

The midfielder spent six month in the Middle Eastern country playing for second-tier club Al Shoalah.

The 33-year-old moved to Saudi Arabia in January this year, signing a six-month contract that expired in July.

In an interview with Kick-Off, Karuru, who is currently a free agent, talked about the football standards in the Gulf State, while commenting about Pitso Mosimane’s recent appointment as the head coach of Saudi second division club Al Ahli.

“People must not be fooled into undermining the league because it is the second division. There are teams that pay really good money there which is why there are a lot of players coming from other countries, so it is tough.

“The league is competitive and the beauty about it is that it is never obvious who will win this or that game or who will get promoted.”

He added”Some teams in that league pay players winning bonuses of up to USD4000 (approx. R68 000) towards the end of the season which you get after the game in cash.

“With us, after we won our last game and survived, we were given winning bonuses of 25000 Saudi Riyal (approx. R113 000).”

On the kind of lifestyle one should expect in Saudi Arabia, Karuru said: “The plus about staying in the Middle East is that the lifestyle doesn’t demand so much.

“R200 worth of fuel is a lot and you don’t have to be dressing up because nobody cares about that as they were their long Arabic garment.

“I had three tops and three bottoms in six months there because I was always at home alone.

“It is extremely hot during the day, so you don’t go anywhere, they don’t speak English, there are no pubs, and the women don’t even look at you so all your money stays in your pocket unlike in South Africa where you spend easily as there are always temptations.”