Former MLS Manager Recalls Extraordinary Kidnap, Ransom Plot Over Saudi Arabia Job Scam

Adrian Heath played for Everton and several other English clubs before entering the coaching ranks.

Adrian Heath has not managed in MLS since 2023. | Diego Diaz/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)

Highly regarded former MLS manager Adrian Heath has admitted he was kidnapped and threatened in a scam over a fake job in Saudi Arabia.

The 65-year-old travelled to Morocco for what he believed to be an interview for a job in the Saudi Pro League in November 2024, but had fallen into a kidnapping and ransom trap which led him to the outskirts of Tangier. 

Sitting down with The Athletic, Heath insisted he noticed no red flags until he arrived in Morocco, when it quickly became clear that he was in danger when two men drove him to a small town outside the city and brought him into a room where three other men were sitting. 

“You obviously realize that this isn’t what you thought it was going to be,” Heath recounted of his kidnappers’ message to him as they demanded a six-figure fee for his safe release. “This is how it’s going to work: You’re going to send us money ... And if you don’t, you won’t see your wife again. You won’t see your two kids and your grandkids.”

---

No Red Flags

The plans had few warnings before Adrian Heath arrived in Morocco. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

No red flags had arisen at home in Minneapolis until Heath’s wife, Jane, did not receive the usual FaceTime call the two shared when the manager would arrive on his latest soccer tour, wherever it would be in the world. Instead, cold responses to Jane’s texts flagged concern before the captors called Jane through Heath’s phone to explain the process. 

Heath says a knife was pressed against his throat and that he initially told his kidnappers that his wife could not transfer the money as it was past the business day in the United States, before Jane thought quickly to suggest to the captors that all accounts required Heath’s approval to exchange large sums. 

The former Minnesota United manager was adamant about not paying, knowing that payment would only extend the demands. “Listen to what I’m saying. I need you to transfer some money,” he told Jane over the phone. 

“Adrian, we changed bank accounts less than 12 months ago. You’re the head name on it. I can’t transfer any money without you there,” she replied, before the captors reduced their demand to a lower six-figure sum. 

---

MLS on Apple TV Talent Helps Heath Escape

MLS on Apple TV host and analyst Kaylyn Kyle helped spark the rescue mission for Heath. | Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

Once Jane understood the situation, she reached out to their son, Harrison Heath, a former MLS midfielder who played with Orlando City, a club Adrian had coached in its expansion seasons. 

Heath’s wife and MLS on Apple TV host and analyst, Kaylyn Kyle, suggested checking the Find My Friends app on the father’s phone, which the kidnappers had failed turn off. She took a screenshot and challenged the agent who had set up the interview, then reached out to a family friend who happened to be an FBI employee in New York City. 

Soon after, authorities began to follow Heath’s whereabouts, while he attempted to talk his way out of captivity, telling his captors: “Listen, I don’t know how this is going to end up, but bottom line, you’re not getting any money ... You can see that the only chance you’ve got in getting any money is me going home and wiring it to you. From there, you’re going to have to trust me, but that’s where we are.”

Soon after, one of the kidnappers entered the room and instructed Heath to pack his belongings, and they would return him to the airport, where he quickly purchased a flight to Europe, arriving in Madrid soon after and making his way home to the United States before revealing his story.

Heath, now 65, does not have any active managerial job lined up for the 2026 North American season and has not led a team since departing Minnesota United in 2023.

---