Final matches announced as Jeddah gets set for WWE Night of Champions
Championships on the line as SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley and Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair defend titles at Jeddah Superdome
WWE stars arrive in Saudi Arabia for historic WWE Saturday showdown
Updated 26 May 2023
Arab News
RIYADH: The final countdown to this weekend’s WWE Night of Champions is underway, with the newly announced final matches adding to a historic event set to take Jeddah by storm on Saturday, May 27.
Alongside the historic return of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the headline title showdown between Seth Rollins and AJ Styles, the dominant forces from across SmackDown and Raw will be in attendance to defend their titles and take down their rivals inside the Jeddah Superdome this weekend.
Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair heads to Jeddah following an impressive streak as leader of the women’s division. Saturday evening will prove a tough challenge as she faces Asuka, an opponent known to test the physical and mental strength of her competitors in an effort to capture the belt.
The recently crowned SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will face an early challenge to her title reign from Natalya, as the two stars battle in Jeddah on Saturday. This follows her inspiring performances including her crowning win at WrestleMania 39 to take the championship belt from the legendary Charlotte Flair.
Becky Lynch continues her return to the sport with a highly anticipated showdown with Trish Stratus. “Big Time” Becks will take on the WWE Hall of Famer after a recent war of words between the former allies.
This weekend’s event features a number of high-profile contests on the match card, including Mustafa Ali’s title fight with Intercontinental Champion Gunther, and the rematch between Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar. Saturday also sees Roman Reigns surpass 1,000 days as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, as he and Solo Sikoa compete in a monumental title defense against WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in Jeddah.
Match Card so far:
WWE World Heavyweight Championship – Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles
Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
Intercontinental Champion Gunther vs. Mustafa Ali
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa vs. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens
Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair vs. Asuka
SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Natalya
Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus
No alternative to Bayern sackings, says ex-president Hoeness
"The overall development was simply too unsatisfactory" Hoeness told newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung
Hoeness revealed "nobody" at the club was consulted about the decision to fire coach Julian Nagelsmann in March
Updated 57 min 50 sec ago
AFP
BERLIN: Former Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness said in an interview published on Friday the club had no alternative but firing chief executive Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.
Hoeness explained the club needed to take action, with news of the sacking becoming known just moments after Bayern won their 11th straight Bundesliga title.
“The overall development was simply too unsatisfactory” Hoeness told newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, referring to the club’s poor second half of the season.
Nine points ahead of Borussia Dortmund at Christmas, Bayern entered the final round of the season two points behind.
Their 2-1 win over Cologne in the last match of the campaign, along with Dortmund’s 2-2 draw against Mainz, meant they won the title on goal difference.
Bayern sacked Kahn and Salihamidzic on Thursday, but did not tell the players or make the news public until moments after the full-time whistle.
Captain Thomas Mueller found out in a post-match interview, after putting on a t-shirt commemorating the win.
Hoeness, who played for Bayern before running the club in various capacities for decades, revealed “nobody” at the club was consulted about the decision to fire coach Julian Nagelsmann in March.
“Even Herbert Hainer (Bayern president) was informed far too late... and something like that simply doesn’t work.”
While saying that Salihamidzic “remained a good sporting director,” Hoeness said former goalkeeper Kahn had not done enough work in the sporting department.
“Oliver had defined his role for himself in such a way that he largely stayed out of sports. Yet sport is the main task.
“Our product is football” the 71-year-old added.
Inter’s Gosens returns, Gnabry dropped from Germany squad for upcoming friendlies
Flick returns to a more conventional squad after experimenting with new players for Germany's last round of friendlies in March
The 26-man squad named Friday contain no new call-ups, though AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw is uncapped despite having been in the March squad
Updated 02 June 2023
AP
FRANKFURT, Germany: Inter Milan midfielder Robin Gosens is set to return to the Germany team for the first time in nearly a year, while Bayern Munich forward Serge Gnabry was left out as coach Hansi Flick announced his squad for upcoming friendly games Friday.
Flick returns to a more conventional squad after experimenting with new players for Germany’s last round of friendlies in March following a group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup. Those experiments brought mixed results with a 2-0 win over Peru and a 3-2 loss to Belgium.
The 26-man squad named Friday contain no new call-ups, though AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw is uncapped despite having been in the March squad. Eight players return after not being selected in March, including Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gündogan, who missed Germany’s last friendlies after becoming a father, Bayern forward Leroy Sané and Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger.
Gosens is back for the first time in nine months after his role in helping Inter to the Champions League final, albeit mostly as a substitute. He was listed as a defender in Friday’s announcement, reflecting his usual role for Germany as a left-back, not the midfield role he typically plays for Inter.
Gosens has 14 appearances for Germany and started all four games at the European Championship in 2021, making waves with a goal and two assists in a 4-2 win over Portugal, but has played only once since September of that year.
Gnabry misses out despite a late-season burst of form which saw him score five goals and assist one more in Bayern’s final five games, helping his team to overtake Borussia Dortmund for the Bundesliga title. Others from the March squad who have been dropped include Eintracht Frankfurt’s attacking midfielder Mario Götze and Wolfsburg forward Felix Nmecha. Bayern’s Thomas Müller remains out of the squad and hasn’t been selected since the World Cup.
As the host nation for next year’s European Championship, Germany do not have to play qualifying games. They host Ukraine on June 12 in what the German soccer confederation considers to be the team’s 1,000th game. That will be followed by matches at Poland on June 16 and home against Colombia on June 20.
Germany:
Goalkeepers: Bernd Leno (Fulham), Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt).
Defenders: Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), Robin Gosens (Inter Milan), Benjamin Henrichs (Leipzig), Thilo Kehrer (West Ham), Lukas Klostermann (Leipzig), David Raum (Leipzig), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Malick Thiaw (AC Milan), Marius Wolf (Borussia Dortmund).
Midfielders: Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund), Emre Can (Borussia Dortmund), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City), Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen).
Forwards: Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen), Kai Havertz (Chelsea), Leroy Sané (Bayern Munich), Kevin Schade (Brentford), Timo Werner (Leipzig).
French Open lets Belarus’ Sabalenka skip standard news conference after questions about Ukraine war
Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, didn't appear at a news conference Friday after reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time
Sabalenka said she “did not feel safe” at her news conference Wednesday and wanted to protect her “mental health and well-being”
Updated 02 June 2023
AP
PARIS: Two years after Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open when she was fined, then threatened with disqualification, for skipping news conferences, another top tennis player — No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion — was allowed to avoid the traditional postmatch session open to all accredited journalists and instead speak Friday with what was described as a “pool” of selected questioners.
Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, didn’t appear at a news conference Friday after reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Kamilla Rakhimova.
After each of her previous two wins this week, Sabalenka was asked about her stance on the war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022, when Russia invaded that country with help from Belarus.
Sabalenka said she “did not feel safe” at her news conference Wednesday and wanted to protect her “mental health and well-being.” Sabalenka’s desire to bypass the standard Q-and-A was supported by the tournament and the WTA. She will not be fined.
The topic of the war was raised at both earlier news conferences by Daria Meshcheriakova, a part-time journalist from the Ukraine for a sports outlet she said gets 7 million views per month. Meshcheriakova, who said she used to be an employee of the German embassy in Kyiv, left Ukraine 10 days after the war began and moved to the Netherlands.
Sabalenka’s first match at this French Open was against a player from Ukraine, Marta Kostyuk, who refused to shake hands at the net afterward — as she’s done against all opponents from Russia or Belarus since the attacks began. Kostyuk was booed by fans apparently unaware of why she declined the usual gesture.
Two spokespeople for the French Tennis Federation wouldn’t say who was allowed to talk with Sabalenka on Friday, but a transcript was distributed to the media. The first “question” was: “Before we start, I know there was a tense situation in your second-round press conference, and if you wanted to address it at all.”
The response, according to the transcript: “After my match, I spoke with the media like I normally do. I know they still expect some questions that are more about the politics and not so much about my tennis. For many months now I have answered these questions at tournaments and been very clear in my feelings and my thoughts. These questions do not bother me after my matches. I know that I have to provide answers to the media on things not related to my tennis or my matches, but on Wednesday I did not feel safe in (the) press conference. I should be able to feel safe when I do interviews with the journalists after my matches. For my own mental health and well-being, I have decided to take myself out of this situation today, and the tournament has supported me in this decision. It hasn’t been an easy few days, and now my focus is (to) continue to play well here in Paris.”
What followed were topics such as how Sabalenka played Friday, her previous track record at Roland Garros, her fitness training and what types of movies she has been watching.
At the 2021 French Open, Osaka — a four-time major champion and former No. 1 — shined a light on the issue of athletes’ mental health by saying she did not want to speak to the media during the tournament. She was docked $15,000 for skipping the news conference after her first-round victory in Paris, then was threatened by all four Grand Slam tournaments with possible additional punishment, including disqualification or suspension, if she continued to sit out those availabilities.
Osaka then pulled out of the competition, saying she experiences “huge waves of anxiety” before speaking to the media and revealed she has “suffered long bouts of depression.”
Juddmonte’s Arrest, Frankie Dettori in final Derby ride bid for glory at world’s most famous race
Arrest, owned by Juddmonte and trained in Newmarket by John and Thady Gosden, landed two wins in 2022 at Sandown and Ffos Las
Will be Italian icon Dettori’s final run in the Derby at Epsom Downs
Updated 02 June 2023
DANIEL FOUNTAIN
LONDON: Legendary jockey Frankie Dettori is hoping to continue this season’s glorious swan song in one of the world’s biggest races on Saturday when he saddles up on board Saudi Arabia-owned Arrest.
It will be the Italian icon’s final run in the Derby at Epsom Downs and he will be hoping to make it a hat trick of victories in the famous old race, having won aboard Authorized in 2007 and Golden Horn in 2015.
Arrest, owned by Juddmonte and trained in Newmarket by John and Thady Gosden, landed two wins in 2022 at Sandown and Ffos Las and comes into the Derby in good form having scored a victory in the Group Three Chester Vase last month.
The colt, by Juddmonte’s world-renowned sire Frankel, will be in good company at the two-day Derby festival, which got underway on Friday, with Soul Sister, Military Order, Hurricane Lane and Westover also representing the retired champion across the weekend.
The win at Chester was a reward for the confidence shown by Arrest’s trainers, the Gosdens, and they have high hopes for him in the Derby.
“John and Thady have held him in high regard since last year. While we were a little nervous of all the rain that fell on Chester that morning, we were still hopeful of a very big run,” Barry Mahon, Juddmonte’s general manager of Irish and European racing, said in comments to Great British Racing International for Arab News.
“The race went far from ideal with no pace early on and Arrest getting caught a little wide, but in the end his class shone through and he powered away for an easy victory.
“This year seems to be a very open renewal of the Epsom Derby and being a son of Frankel, we know he will give his all (on Saturday) and we’re hopeful of a good run,” he added.
Gosden believes Arrest has the staying power to beat the field, having proved his mettle in his Chester victory.
“This horse can change gears, absolutely. He’s a big boy and he proved he stayed the other day (in the Chester Vase) when he handled the conditions. He doesn’t need it to be like that,” John told the Jockey Club. “He’s got the stamina; to do what he did at Chester in ground like that shows he’s got the stamina, no problem.”
He added: “Stamina is a requirement in this race, the same for the Kentucky Derby going a mile and a quarter for the Americans, they see it as a marathon. Stamina wise you never really know until you go the mile and a half, you really don’t.
“Everybody thinks this is a downhill track, but it’s uphill, it rises 150 feet before you start going downhill, then you have a last section which climbs before the finish and it can catch a lot out on stamina.”
Arrest and Frankie Dettori at The Derby Festival Gallops Morning 2023. (John Hoy/The Jockey Club)
A win in the Derby would be monumental for Juddmonte and Frankel, as well as Arrest’s future after racing, Mahon said.
“The Epsom Derby is still one of the most important, iconic thoroughbred flat races in the world. History tells us that colts who have won (the race) have gone on to shape the breed as stallions,” he said.
“The fact that it is one of the most iconic races in the world makes it very significant that Frankel would add a second victory in the race.
“He is progressing to be an outstanding stallion at present with a number of runners in the Oaks and Derby as well as siring this year’s English 2000 Guineas winner, so hopefully he will be able to build on his tally in the coming seasons,” Mahon added.
Following the passing of owner and founder Prince Khalid bin Abdullah Al-Saud in 2021, his family have continued his work and passion for racing, with his son Prince Saud bin Khalid in attendance at Newmarket when Juddmonte’s Chaldean won the 2000 Guineas on May 6.
Mahon believes the future of the operation is in good hands and hopes to give Prince Saud another winner this year, especially if he makes the journey to England.
“It will be wonderful to welcome Prince Saud to Epsom over the weekend. He has been racing numerous times this year and is really enjoying how the season is going,” he said.
“Prince Saud and his family are very dedicated to Juddmonte and the wider thoroughbred industry and hopefully we can provide them with more success as the season continues,” he added.
Speaking to the Jockey Club, Dettori was hopeful of glory in his final Derby run, saying: “I have been fortunate enough to win the Derby twice and it is still the most famous race in the world for us.”
He added: “When I started my career as a jockey, first of all you want to get a ride in it and then try to win it. I’ve had over 20 rides in it and this is my last go. At least I am going into my last Derby with a great chance.”
Jose Mourinho charged by UEFA for verbally abusing referee at Europa League final
UEFA said the Roma coach is charged for “insulting / abusive language against a match official” after Sevilla’s victory in Budapest this week
Footage circulated Thursday of Mourinho approaching referee Anthony Taylor in the garage and calling him a “disgrace” with an expletive
Updated 02 June 2023
AP
NYON, Switzerland: Jose Mourinho was charged by UEFA on Friday after being filmed aggressively cursing at the English match referee in a stadium garage after the Europa League final.
UEFA said the Roma coach is charged for “insulting / abusive language against a match official” after Sevilla’s victory in Budapest this week.
It was one of a slew of disciplinary charges UEFA opened into incidents at a testy, bad-tempered game that lasted more than three hours on Wednesday.
Footage circulated Thursday of Mourinho approaching referee Anthony Taylor in the garage and calling him a “disgrace” with an expletive.
Later Thursday, Taylor and his family were harassed and verbally abused by Roma fans at the airport in Budapest.
Roma lost to Sevilla in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw that saw players and officials clash on the field and in the technical area.
UEFA charged both teams with improper conduct – typically activated for at least five yellow cards shown – and Roma was charged over crowd disturbances and acts of damage.
Sevilla was also charged because dozens of its fans invaded the field after the match.
UEFA gave no timetable for its disciplinary panel to judge the cases.
