6-time All-Star former Major League Baseball MVP Miguel Tejada named manager of Karachi Monarchs

6-time All-Star former Major League Baseball MVP Miguel Tejada named manager of Karachi Monarchs
New Karach Monarchs manager Miguel Tejada (left) with franchise Honorary GM Adrian Beltre. (Supplied)
Short Url
Updated 06 June 2023
Follow

6-time All-Star former Major League Baseball MVP Miguel Tejada named manager of Karachi Monarchs

6-time All-Star former Major League Baseball MVP Miguel Tejada named manager of Karachi Monarchs
  • Tejada will lead Baseball United’s Pakistan franchise in partnership with fellow Dominican baseball legend Adrian Beltre

KARACHI: Baseball United, the first professional baseball league focused on the Middle East and Indian subcontinent, has announced that former Major League Baseball MVP and All-Star Miguel Tejada will become the first manager of the Karachi Monarchs.

Tejada will team up with fellow Dominican Republic baseball legend, Adrian Beltre, who was named the team’s honorary general manager last week.

The Karachi Monarchs are the first professional baseball franchise in the history of Pakistan and the second announced by Baseball United. The Monarchs will compete in Baseball United’s Dubai Showcase in November alongside the Mumbai Cobras, and two additional franchises that will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Cobras and Monarchs are expected to generate significant fanfare, building on decades of sports rivalries between India and Pakistan. The last cricket match between India and Pakistan was watched by more than 230 million people around the world.

“The leadership we are putting together around our Baseball United stacks up against any professional sports league in the world,” said Kash Shaikh, president, CEO and co-owner of Baseball United. “These are elite baseball minds and exceptional clubhouse leaders. Miguel Tejada fits that mold. He’s not only a former All-Star and one of the greatest Dominican players in history, but he’s someone who’s been through hardship, made mistakes, and recovered from them. When you have experienced the high highs and the low lows, you build a humility and resilience that enables you to succeed. I am looking forward to seeing Miguel in the dugout with Karachi across his chest.”

Tejada played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball and was the 2002 American League Most Valuable Player. He was selected to six All-Star games, winning the All-Star game MVP in 2005. Tejada, a shortstop, also won two Silver Slugger awards and amassed more than 300 career home runs. He played for six franchises, most notably the Baltimore Orioles and the Oakland Athletics.

“This opportunity means a lot,” Tejada said. “I’ve been blessed with a lot of good things in my life thanks to baseball, but I really believe this chance to lead the Karachi Monarchs will be one of the best. I truly appreciate Kash, John Miedreich and Eddie Diaz taking a chance on me, and giving me the opportunity to prove myself in this new role. I can’t wait to get on the field and start helping our players.”

Tejada and Beltre will partner with Miedreich, Baseball United executive vice president of baseball operations, and Diaz, vice president of Baseball Operations, to develop Karachi’s roster in advance of November’s Showcase. The league’s first full season will begin in late 2024.


Newcastle thrash PSG on Champions League homecoming

Newcastle thrash PSG on Champions League homecoming
Updated 05 October 2023
Follow

Newcastle thrash PSG on Champions League homecoming

Newcastle thrash PSG on Champions League homecoming

NEWCASTLE: Newcastle enjoyed a dream return to the Champions League at St. James’ Park as Paris Saint-Germain were humbled in a 4-1 victory for the Magpies on Wednesday.
Miguel Almiron, Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff and Fabian Schar scored the goals as Newcastle made their first home game in Europe’s elite competition for 20 years a night to remember.
Eddie Howe’s men move to the top of what is considered the toughest Champions League group in this season’s draw.
Newcastle have four points from their opening two games, one more than PSG, while Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan picked up their first point in a 0-0 draw in Germany.
The first ever clash between the clubs pitted the sporting interests of Saudi Arabia and Qatar head-to-head.
A Saudi takeover two years ago has transformed Newcastle’s fortunes in similar fashion to how the influx of cash from the Middle East has made PSG the dominant force of French football over the past decade.
PSG boss Luis Enrique warned before the game that Newcastle were the side no one wanted from the fourth pot of seeds and the Premier League side showed why.
Despite being acutely aware of Newcastle’s threat, Luis Enrique boldly stuck with a star-studded front four featuring Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Goncalo Ramos and Randal Kolo Muani.
It could have been very different for the French champions had Dembele’s sweetly-struck volley form Mbappe’s cross found the net rather than flying inches wide early on.
But once the home side, roared on by a raucous 52,000 fans, got their claws into the visitors, they did not let go.
PSG were though architects of their own downfall with the opening goal on 17 minutes.
A slack pass by Marquinhos was intercepted by Bruno Guimaraes to give Alexander Isak a clear sight of goal.
Gianluigi Donnarumma produced a fine save to deny the Swede, but Almiron was on hand to curl into the far corner.
For all the hundreds of millions splashed on big names from around the globe from both sides, there was a fairytale surrounding the source of the second goal.
Burn grew up watching Newcastle from the St. James’ stands and has worked himself up from starting his career in the sixth tier of English football with Blyth Spartans to the highest level of European football.
Donnarumma could not prevent the giant defender’s header from close range crossing the line six minutes before half-time.
But PSG were unhappy that a lengthy VAR review to check the goal did not rule it out for a handball by Jamaal Lascelles in the build-up.
Any hope of a PSG fightback after the break was snuffed out within five minutes of the restart thanks to another of Newcastle’s local lads.
Longstaff raced onto Kieran Trippier’s pass and drilled a low shot under Donnarumma, who should have done much better.
However, the French champions did at least show some spirit to limit the damage.
Teenage midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery impressed in a daunting environment and his dink over the Newcastle defense was perfectly judged for Lucas Hernandez to head into the far corner.
But Newcastle sealed a famous win in style in what they will believe is just the start of a journey toward Champions League glory one day.
Schar strode forward from central defense before unleashing a blistering strike into the top corner from outside the box.
By contrast, PSG are still waiting to conquer Europe and this was another stark reminder of how far off they are from the favorites for the competition.
Off to their worst Ligue 1 start of the Qatari era, PSG have now won just four of Luis Enrique’s first nine games in charge.


Riyadh Season new shirt sponsor of Serie A’s Roma

Riyadh Season new shirt sponsor of Serie A’s Roma
Updated 04 October 2023
Follow

Riyadh Season new shirt sponsor of Serie A’s Roma

Riyadh Season new shirt sponsor of Serie A’s Roma

MILAN: Roma announced on Wednesday that Riyadh Season will be their new shirt sponsor, the latest move from Saudi Arabia in European football.
In a statement, Roma did not say for how long the sponsorship would last nor how much it was worth, but that the Italian club would play a friendly in Saudi Arabia as part of the new deal.
Italian media report that the deal is worth around €8 million ($8.3 million) a season.
Roma did not say when they would play the friendly match, with the opposition also not specified.

Riyadh Season is an entertainment and sport festival held during winter in the Saudi capital organized by the Gulf country’s Entertainment Authority.
Roma had been looking for a main shirt sponsor after breaking with crypto currency company DigitalBits, who did not respect the terms of their three-year, 35-million-euro sponsorship and were also dumped by Inter Milan.
Jose Mourinho’s side had been playing matches with the ancient Roman slogan SPQR (“Senatus Populusque Romanus” or “The Senate and People of Rome“) on the front of their shirts since abandoning the DigitalBits deal late last season.
The new deal is the latest move in football from the Saudis, who own Premier League club Newcastle United and have unleashed hundreds of millions of dollars to bring stars to their own domestic Pro League.
The prospect of Roma taking on Riyadh as a sponsor had caused some controversy in Italy as the two capital cities are both bidding to host the 2030 Expo.


Iran says it has agreed with Saudis to reschedule Asian Champions League match after walkout

Iran says it has agreed with Saudis to reschedule Asian Champions League match after walkout
Updated 04 October 2023
Follow

Iran says it has agreed with Saudis to reschedule Asian Champions League match after walkout

Iran says it has agreed with Saudis to reschedule Asian Champions League match after walkout
  • The AFC said the match was canceled ‘due to unanticipated and unforeseen circumstances’

TEHRAN: Iran said Wednesday it has agreed with Saudi Arabia to reschedule an Asian Champions League match after the Saudi team walked out at the last minute, apparently over the presence of a statue
of a slain Iranian general.

The walkout appeared to strain a recent rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, longtime rivals who have backed opposite sides in conflicts across the Middle East. But in the days since, both sides have appeared eager to move past it.
The Saudi Al-Ittihad team did not come out onto the field in Isfahan on Monday, where some 60,000 fans were eagerly awaiting their match against Iran’s Sepahan. Saudi Arabia’s state-run Al Ekhbariya TV said they refused to come out because of a statue of the late Gen. Qassem Soleimani placed outside the entrance tunnel.
Soleimani, who commanded the elite Quds Force of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, is seen as a war hero by Iran’s clerical rulers and their supporters but vilified by Western and many Arab nations because of his role in leading Iran’s military activities across the region. He was killed in a US drone strike in neighboring Iraq in 2020.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters Wednesday that the two sides would reschedule the match and urged the Asian Football Confederation to review the incident on a “technical” basis.
“We should not allow sport to be used as political leverage” by any side, he said.

BACKGROUND

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters Wednesday that the two sides would reschedule the match and urged the Asian Football Confederation to review the incident on a “technical” basis.

He went on to say that relations with Saudi Arabia are moving in the right direction, and that he had been in direct contact with his Saudi counterpart on Monday night.
Saudi officials have not commented on the walkout.
Al-Ittihad released a statement hours after the walkout saying the team had left the stadium and flown home because they were told by league organizers that the match would not take place as scheduled. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation put out a statement expressing support for the team.
The AFC said the match was canceled “due to unanticipated and unforeseen circumstances,” without elaborating. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal club defeated Iran’s Nassaji in a match in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
The soccer tournament, which features 40 teams from around Asia, is the first since 2015 to see Saudi and Iranian teams play on each other’s soil. After the countries severed diplomatic relations in 2016, games usually took place in neutral venues.
The two countries restored diplomatic relations earlier this year in an agreement brokered by China. That raised hopes that the devastating war between a Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, which has been winding down in recent years, might finally come to
an end.
But tensions rose again last month after an attack killed four soldiers who were patrolling Saudi Arabia’s southern border with Yemen. The soldiers were from Bahrain, a close Saudi ally, and the coalition blamed the Houthis, who have not publicly acknowledged the attack.


FIFA to allow Russia to play at Under-17 World Cup

FIFA to allow Russia to play at Under-17 World Cup
Updated 04 October 2023
Follow

FIFA to allow Russia to play at Under-17 World Cup

FIFA to allow Russia to play at Under-17 World Cup
  • UEFA last week reinstated Russian youth teams to its competitions
  • The decision is conditional on Russian teams playing under the name of the “Football Union of Russia”

PARIS: FIFA on Wednesday lifted its suspension on Russia’s under-17 teams, following in the footsteps of UEFA, and clearing the way for them to play at the World Cup.
UEFA last week reinstated Russian youth teams to its competitions but maintained a ban on the country’s senior sides due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The decision is conditional on Russian teams playing under the name of the “Football Union of Russia,” while the country’s flag, anthem and national playing kit would not be allowed either, FIFA said.
Russia was barred from all international football tournaments following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Russian boys’ under-17 team will not participate at next month’s World Cup in Indonesia, after being banned from taking part in qualifying.
“The FIFA Council reiterated its condemnation of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine and confirmed that the remaining terms of the decision made on 28 February 2022 remain in force until the end of the conflict,” world football’s governing body said.
In response to UEFA’s decision, the Ukrainian football association said that it will boycott all competitions featuring Russian sides, while Poland will refuse to play against teams from the country.


Saudi show jumping team wins Kingdom’s 3rd Asian Games gold

Saudi show jumping team wins Kingdom’s 3rd Asian Games gold
Updated 04 October 2023
Follow

Saudi show jumping team wins Kingdom’s 3rd Asian Games gold

Saudi show jumping team wins Kingdom’s 3rd Asian Games gold
  • Show jumpers Ramzy Al-Duhami, Abdullah Al-Sharbatly, Abdulrahman Al-Rajhi and Mishari Al-Harbi claim victory with faultless final round
  • Hangzhou 2022 breaks record for number of athletes in Asian Games and Summer Olympic Games, with more than 12,500 competitors

HANGZHOU, China: Saudi Arabia’s show jumping team have been crowned Asian Games winners for a second time after clinching gold at the 19th Asian Games (Hangzhou 2022) on Wednesday.
Saudi show jumpers Ramzy Al-Duhami, Abdullah Al-Sharbatly, Abdulrahman Al-Rajhi and Mishari Al-Harbi won their country’s third gold medal in the Hangzhou games. The show jumping team were also victorious at the Jakarta 2018 games.
The Saudi team secured gold at Hangzhou after completing the first and second rounds without any errors.
Prince Fahd bin Jalawi, head of the Saudi delegation, and Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee vice president, attended the equestrian events in Hangzhou.
The Saudi show jumpers completed the final round faultlessly in a time of 111.83 secs. The Qataris ranked second ahead of the Emirati team.
The win on Wednesday lifts Saudi Arabia’s medal tally to six, with three gold, two silver and one bronze.
Al-Duhami described the victory as an “indescribable feeling,” and hoped that their success would inspire more medals in the individual competition.

Basketball
The Green Falcons basketball team defeated Japan 79-74 in the classifications deciding the positions from fifth to eighth on Wednesday. The team will face Iran in the match that decides fifth and sixth places on Friday.

Athletics
In the javelin, Saudi athlete Ali Al-Abdulghani left the games having ranked seventh with a throw of 73.45 meters. Meanwhile, distance runner Tariq Al-Omari finished eighth in the 5,000-meters race with a time of 14:02:94 minutes.

Hangzhou breaks records
Hangzhou 2022 has broken the record for the number of participating athletes in Asian Games and Summer Olympic Games, with over 12,500 competitors representing 45 Asian countries in more than 40 sports (61 disciplines, 481 events and 481 gold medals).
Hangzhou 2022 is China’s third Asian Games to be hosted after Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010.

Chinese contingent
The Chinese delegation participating in the current Games is the largest, with a total of 800 athletes. In terms of Arab countries, Saudi Arabia has 193 athletes in 19 sports, Bahrain has 232 athletes in 17 sports, Kuwait has 141 athletes in 25 sports, Qatar has 180 athletes in 27 sports, the UAE has 140 athletes in 20 sports, Oman has 44 athletes in seven sports, Jordan has 89 athletes in 16 sports, and Palestine has 70 athletes in seven sports.