SCOTTISH referee John Beaton has been given an apology by Saudi star Salem Al Dosari after he head-butted the whistler.

The Al Hilal player made the shocking assault last weekend in a hot-tempered derby in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

Al Doasri was hit with a six-game ban by the Saudi FA and also fined £3,370.

Now he has issued a video apology to Beaton, who was invited to take charge of the powderkeg game by the Saudi football authorities.

Al Dosari said: "I would like to sincerely apologise to the referee for my actions in the game against Al Nasr. Also, I owe my team-mates, my club and our supporters an apology, too.

"No man is infallible and I made a terrible error. But the mistake will never be repeated and I believe a successful person is one who is able to learn from his errors.

"I want to put this incident behind me, accept my punishment and concentrate on helping Al Hilal be successful in the AFC Champions League tournament."

His club's president, Mohammad Al-Homaidani, was also fined £8,445 for his comments on Beaton after the game where he complained he had favoured Al Nasr.

Al Hilal were also fined £1,688 for having eight players booked in the game.