Saudi football fans in Doha join Morocco World Cup celebrations

Saudi football fans in Doha join Morocco World Cup celebrations
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Part of the celebrations at the Saudi House in Doha. SPA
Saudi football fans in Doha join Morocco World Cup celebrations
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Moroccan football fans celebrated in Doha the north Africans becoming the first Arab team to reach the World Cup quarterfinals. AN photo by Bashir Saleh.
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Updated 07 December 2022

Saudi football fans in Doha join Morocco World Cup celebrations

Saudi football fans in Doha join Morocco World Cup celebrations
  • “We, the Moroccans, are proud of the Saudi public’s support for us in the final qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup," Moroccan fan said

DOHA: Saudis on Tuesday joined Moroccan football fans celebrating in Doha the north Africans becoming the first Arab team to reach the World Cup quarterfinals.

Visitors to the Saudi House area, located on the Qatari capital’s corniche, watched on a giant screen Morocco’s dramatic 3-0 penalty shootout win over Spain in the round of 16 match.

The Saudi House pavilion, set up for the duration of the tournament to showcase the Kingdom’s rich culture and footballing history, was a sea of Saudi and Moroccan flags as fans from around the world witnessed the Atlas Lions’ victory.

Saudi fan, Mohammed Al-Hamid, described the result as marking an historic day in sport for Arabs in general and Moroccans in particular.

He added that many Saudis had backed Arab teams competing in the World Cup either by attending matches or watching games on giant screens.

Moroccan fan Nader bin Saeed, said: “We, the Moroccans, are proud of the Saudi public’s support for us in the final qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup.

“Here, in the Saudi House, we feel that we are one people united by many customs and traditions, and we have many citizens who work in Saudi Arabia, as well as our Moroccan professionals who play in the Saudi league.”


Cristiano Ronaldo breaks all-time men’s international caps record

Cristiano Ronaldo breaks all-time men’s international caps record
Updated 58 min 3 sec ago

Cristiano Ronaldo breaks all-time men’s international caps record

Cristiano Ronaldo breaks all-time men’s international caps record
  • The 38-year-old, who was dropped from the Portuguese starting XI during the World Cup in Qatar last year, won a 197th cap for his country
  • "Records are my motivation," Ronaldo told reporters

LISBON: Cristiano Ronaldo broke the men’s international appearance record on Thursday by starting Portugal’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Liechtenstein.
The 38-year-old, who was dropped from the Portuguese starting XI during the World Cup in Qatar last year, won a 197th cap for his country.
“Records are my motivation,” Ronaldo told reporters on Wednesday.
“I want to become the most capped player in history. That would make me proud.
“But it doesn’t stop there, I still want to be called up very often.”
Ronaldo made his international debut in 2003 and became the first man to score in five World Cups last year before Portugal lost to Morocco in the quarter-finals.
He is currently playing for Saudi club Al Nassr after an acrimonious end to his second spell at Manchester United.
Ronaldo’s appearance off the bench in the defeat by Morocco equalled the previous mark of 196 caps held by Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa.
He left the pitch in tears following Portugal’s shock 1-0 loss against the North Africans.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner will also be hoping to increase his record tally of 118 international goals as Portugal begin their qualification campaign for next year’s European Championship in Germany.
Since leaving Europe, Ronaldo has scored nine goals in 10 matches for Al Nassr.
He was replaced as the starting striker by Goncalo Ramos during the World Cup, with the Benfica youngster scoring a hat-trick in a last-16 win over Switzerland.
But veteran coach Fernando Santos stepped down following the tournament and new boss Roberto Martinez has immediately put his faith in Ronaldo, who also captains the side.
There were questions over whether his 20-year international career had ended in Qatar as Ronaldo will be 39 by the time Euro 2024 kicks off.
But Martinez, who left his role as Belgium coach after the World Cup, has strongly defended his decision to keep Ronaldo in the fold.
“I do not look at the age,” said Martinez when he announced his first squad last week.
The Spaniard added his squad announcement was the “starting point” for Euro 2024, suggesting Ronaldo is likely to be involved if Portugal qualify for the tournament.
Ronaldo adds the international appearance landmark to an impressive list of individual records.
He is the leading goalscorer in European Championship finals with 14 goals and has netted a record 140 times in the Champions League.
Ronaldo has also finished as the top-scorer in three of Europe’s top five leagues — in England, Spain and Italy.
Portugal will visit Luxembourg in their second Group J qualifier on Sunday.
They have also been drawn alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Slovakia.


Man Utd owners await revised offers for Premier League giants

Man Utd owners await revised offers for Premier League giants
Updated 23 March 2023

Man Utd owners await revised offers for Premier League giants

Man Utd owners await revised offers for Premier League giants
  • Reports said bidders were initially told they had until 2100 GMT on Wednesday to submit new offers, but that has now been extended
  • Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad AI Thani, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank, and Ratcliffe, the founder of chemicals giant INEOS, remain the front runners

LONDON: Manchester United’s owners were awaiting fresh bids Thursday from a Qatari banker and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe after a deadline passed for revised offers to buy the Premier League giants.
Reports said bidders were initially told they had until 2100 GMT on Wednesday to submit new offers, but that has now been extended. It is unclear when the new cut-off will be.
Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber AI Thani, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank, and Ratcliffe, the founder of chemicals giant INEOS, remain the front runners should the American Glazer family, who own United, give up control of the club.
Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus threw his hat into the ring on Thursday, with a bid he said will give fans the chance to own 50 percent of the club.
“My bid is built on equality with the fans,” Zilliacus, founder and chairman of investment company Mobile FutureWorks, said in a statement.
“My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half.”
The Glazers have angered many United supporters by saddling the club with huge debts since they took over in 2005. They appeared ready to cash out at an enormous profit when they invited external investment in November.
However, they could yet shun the option of selling a controlling stake in the club, with other parties understood to be interested in a minority shareholding.
The Times reported US hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, which sold AC Milan for $1.3 billion last year, had made a bid to buy a minority stake.
A first round of bidding took place last month and it has been reported there are as many as eight separate potential investors in the club.
The BBC said several other proposed investors made their submissions by the Wednesday deadline.
No figures have been revealed but one or more of the initial bids was understood to be in the region of £4.5 billion ($5.5 billion).
That would make Manchester United — who have not won the Premier League for a decade — the most expensive sports club in history, although it would be short of the £6 billion valuation reportedly placed on the Old Trafford side by the Glazers.
Sheikh Jassim is bidding for 100 percent control, aiming to return the club to its “former glories.”
A source close to Sheikh Jassim’s bid told AFP he remains confident his bid is “the best for the club, fans and local community.”
Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, wants to buy the combined Glazer shareholding of 69 percent of the 20-time English champions.
The 70-year-old told the Wall Street Journal this week he was not interested in paying “stupid prices” for one of football’s most iconic clubs.
Ratcliffe, who already owns French club Nice, said his interest in United would be “purely in winning things,” calling the club a “community asset,” rather than a financial one.
He visited Old Trafford last week along with INEOS representatives, a day after a delegation from Sheikh Jassim’s group toured the club’s stadium and training ground.
A Qatari purchase of United would boost the sporting profile of the Gulf state months after it hosted the 2022 World Cup.
Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City’s fortunes have been transformed since a takeover from Sheikh Mansour, a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, in 2008.
In 2021, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund bought a controlling stake in Newcastle.
Amnesty International has called on the Premier League to tighten ownership rules to ensure they are “not an opportunity for more sportswashing.”
If Sheikh Jassim’s bid succeeds, it would also raise the question of whether Qatar is shifting its attentions away from Paris Saint-Germain — currently home to the trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe — who were bought by Qatari investors in 2011.
United, three-time European champions, have not won the Premier League since Alex Ferguson led them to a 20th English title in his final season before retiring in 2013.
But they are enjoying a renaissance under Erik ten Hag’s management this season and ended a six-year trophy drought by lifting the League Cup last month.


UEFA to investigate Barcelona for its referee payments

UEFA to investigate Barcelona for its referee payments
Updated 23 March 2023

UEFA to investigate Barcelona for its referee payments

UEFA to investigate Barcelona for its referee payments
  • The European soccer body asked Thursday for an investigation into the matter
  • Champions League regulations in effect since April 2007 allow for clubs to be removed from European competitions if they were involved in fixing matches

GENEVA: Barcelona are facing a new legal threat from UEFA, including a possible Champions League ban, because of their payments of millions of dollars to a company linked to a Spanish refereeing official.
The European soccer body asked Thursday for an investigation into the matter, which is already being pursued by prosecutors in Spain.
Champions League regulations in effect since April 2007 allow for clubs to be removed from European competitions if they were involved in fixing matches. Further disciplinary sanctions can follow.
UEFA said Thursday it asked disciplinary inspectors to “conduct an investigation regarding a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework by FC Barcelona in connection with the so-called ‘Caso Negreira.’”
Court documents show Barcelona paid 7.3 million euros ($7.7 million) from 2001-18 to the company of José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice president of Spanish soccer’s refereeing committee.
Prosecutors in Spain have formally accused Barcelona of corruption in sports, fraudulent management and falsification of business documents. An investigating judge will decide if this will lead to charges.
No evidence has yet been published that referees or individual games were actually influenced.
Barcelona have consistently denied any wrongdoing or conflict of interest, saying they paid for technical reports on referees but never tried to influence their decisions in games.
Any proof of manipulated games in the past 16 years could see UEFA exclude Barcelona from its competitions for one year and prosecute a disciplinary case.
Barcelona have a 12-point lead in the Spanish league and are almost certain to qualify for next season’s Champions League — an entry that would pay tens of millions of dollars to a club that posted record losses last year.
The burden of proof for UEFA is stated in regulations for the Champions League and other club competitions.
“If, on the basis of all the factual circumstances and information available to UEFA, UEFA concludes to its comfortable satisfaction that a club have been directly and/or indirectly involved, (since April 27, 2007), in any activity aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of a match at national or international level, UEFA will declare such club ineligible to participate in the competition,” the rules state.
In previous cases of suspected match-fixing, clubs including Fenerbahce, Metalist Kharkiv and Skenderbeu were banned from UEFA competitions in decisions that were upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Fenerbahce were withdrawn from the 2011-12 Champions League by the Turkish soccer federation, seeming to be under pressure from UEFA, after being implicated in manipulating games to help secure the previous season’s league domestic title. The club were later banned for two more seasons.
Former Albanian champion Skenderbeu are serving a 10-year ban after a UEFA investigation into match-fixing for betting scams, including Champions League qualifying games and Europa League group games in 2015.


Ibrahimovic gives Qatar 10/10 for World Cup organization

Ibrahimovic gives Qatar 10/10 for World Cup organization
Sweden's forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic attends press conference in Solna on March 21. AFP
Updated 23 March 2023

Ibrahimovic gives Qatar 10/10 for World Cup organization

Ibrahimovic gives Qatar 10/10 for World Cup organization
  • The 41-year-old player was responding to a journalist’s question during a press conference ahead of Sweden’s European Championship qualifier against Belgium

Riyadh: Swedish football star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has given Qatar 10 out of 10 for its organization of the 2022 World Cup.

The 41-year-old player was responding to a journalist’s question during a press conference on Tuesday ahead of Sweden’s European Championship qualifier against Belgium on Friday.

Ibrahimovic, currently preparing for the game at his country’s national team camp, appeared surprised when asked about the Qatari competition as Sweden had not taken part in the tournament.

He said: “It was fantastic. As awesome as it gets. I was there for two days with the family.”

The Milan striker rated different aspects of Qatar.

“The organization: 10 points. The experience: 10 points. The match: 10 points. Crowd: 10 points. The food: 10 points. The journey: 10 points. Everything was 10 points,” he added.

Ibrahimovic, Sweden’s team captain, gave the journalist a teasing smirk before asking him if he had been looking for another answer, to which the reporter referenced alleged human rights abuses. Ibrahimovic stuck to his rating and gave it yet another “10 points.”

In a previous interview, with broadcaster SVT, about Qatar, he said: “Qatar as a country, I think it is a system that works. Are there drugs? No. Is there crime? No. Is there crime in Sweden? Yes, very much. Drugs? Yes.

“Qatar’s system works. The Swedish system? It works, but if it works 100 percent, I don’t know,” he added.

Qatar’s organization of the World Cup as the first Arab country won the praise of FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, who described the 2022 edition as the “best” in the tournament’s history.


Date confirmed for Abu Dhabi Marathon 2023

Date confirmed for Abu Dhabi Marathon 2023
Updated 23 March 2023

Date confirmed for Abu Dhabi Marathon 2023

Date confirmed for Abu Dhabi Marathon 2023
  • Next edition of the ADNOC-sponsored race will take place on Dec. 16, with community series running year-round

ABU DHABI: The Abu Dhabi Sports Council has confirmed that the next edition of the ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon will take place on Dec. 16, 2023.

Following the announcement by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan that 2023 will be the “Year of Sustainability,” the fifth ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon will place emphasis on sustainability, with several initiatives focused on minimizing the environmental impact of the event and reducing waste.

“We are thrilled to announce the new ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon date,” said Suhail Abdulla AlAreefi, executive director of the events sector at the ADSC. “The 2022 edition, held on a stunning new city course that covered the UAE capital’s most prominent landmarks, was a huge success,  attracting more than 20,000 participants from across the UAE and beyond.”

“The ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon has cemented its place on the running calendar as a platform to engage in physical activity and pursue a healthy, active lifestyle. We look forward to welcoming even more participants and spectators to the fifth ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon.”

Dr. Saif Al-Nasseri, ADNOC’s group human capital director, said: “The ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon is now established as a major sporting event and we are delighted to kick-start the countdown to this fifth edition. Together with ADSC, we are placing sustainability at the heart of the event and taking measures to ensure an eco-friendlier race.

“ADNOC continues to prioritize sporting initiatives that positively contribute to the well-being of our community, and we are confident that the fifth ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon will build on the success of the past four races, inspiring our community to embrace a healthier and more active lifestyle.”

As well as the flagship race on Dec. 16, organizers announced that the Marathon Race Series will once again provide year-round engagement and training opportunities, designed to help runners prepare for the main event.  The first community race will take place in Abu Dhabi on Sept. 2 and will be a shorter-distance indoor run. The second event is scheduled for Oct. 7 in Al-Ain. The series will conclude on Nov. 4 at the iconic Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, with a half marathon event.

In preparation for the marathon, a free eight-month training program will be launched after Ramadan. Led by experienced coaches, sessions will be provided across the UAE and are designed to help runners of all levels prepare for their chosen distance.