Saudi Pro League partners with Word Football Summit for WFS Asia show in Riyadh

The Saudi Pro League, Asia’s top-ranked football league, and the World Football Summit announced on Monday a strategic partnership ahead of the WFS Asia 2024 in Saudi Arabia. (Screenshot/WFS Asia)
The Saudi Pro League, Asia’s top-ranked football league, and the World Football Summit announced on Monday a strategic partnership ahead of the WFS Asia 2024 in Saudi Arabia. (Screenshot/WFS Asia)
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Updated 25 November 2024
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Saudi Pro League partners with Word Football Summit for WFS Asia show in Riyadh

Saudi Pro League partners with Word Football Summit for WFS Asia show in Riyadh
  • Set to take place on Dec. 2-3 at Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District, the event will bring together more than 2,000 industry leaders

LONDON: The Saudi Pro League, Asia’s top-ranked football league, and the World Football Summit announced on Monday a strategic partnership ahead of the WFS Asia 2024 in Saudi Arabia.

Set to take place on Dec. 2-3 at Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District, the event will bring together more than 2,000 industry leaders to discuss and shape the future of football business.

“We are delighted to partner with the World Football Summit,” said Omar Mugharbel, CEO of the Saudi Pro League.

“This collaboration serves as a platform to welcome the global football industry to Saudi Arabia, fostering opportunities for shared growth and mutual prosperity. From our humble beginnings with just eight teams to becoming Asia’s top-ranked league today, our journey highlights the transformative power of football in driving both sporting excellence and societal progress,” he added.

Jan Alessie, co-founder and director of the World Football Summit said the SPL’s success in recent years has been rooted in three key pillars: nurturing young talent, securing world-class international players, and improving club governance.

This evolution aligns seamlessly with WFS Asia’s mission to drive innovation in football business, making the event a natural platform for the SPL to share its insights and experiences.

“The Saudi Pro League’s evolution represents one of the most remarkable stories in modern football,” he said.

“Their commitment to developing local talent while attracting global stars has created a unique model that deserves industry-wide attention. This partnership will provide invaluable insights for football executives worldwide,” he added.

The key themes for the 2024 edition of WFS Asia are the integration of cutting-edge technology in football and the innovation of fan engagement strategies to enhance the sport’s appeal and accessibility.

Additionally, the summit will emphasize the development of sports tourism, showcasing football’s potential to drive economic growth. Sustainability in football will also take center stage, highlighting environmentally conscious practices within the industry.

The event will further spotlight the growth of women’s football and the importance of youth development programs, reinforcing the Kingdom’s dedication to inclusivity and nurturing future talent.


Al-Ittihad await news on injured duo

Al-Ittihad await news on injured duo
Updated 01 December 2024
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Al-Ittihad await news on injured duo

Al-Ittihad await news on injured duo
  • Dutch forward Steven Bergwijn and Saudi midfielder Abdulelah Hawsawi came off against Al-Ettifaq on Saturday
  • Pair set to undergo tests on Sunday ahead of clash with Al-Nassr on Friday

Al-Ittihad players Steven Bergwijn and Abdulelah Hawsawi will undergo medical examinations on their respective injuries on Sunday.

The Jeddah-based club stated through its official account on social media platform X that Dutch forward Bergwijn and Saudi midfielder Hawsawi will undergo tests to ensure their fitness, without disclosing further details about their injuries.

Hawsawi sustained an injury in the 46th minute of the match against Al-Ettifaq on Saturday, during the 12th round of the Saudi Pro League.

It forced the team’s coach, Laurent Blanc, into a substitution, bringing on Abdulrahman Al-Aboud in his place.

Bergwijn also suffered a knock in the 85th minute, and was replaced by Ahmed Al-Ghamdi.

The Dutchman’s injury came 15 minutes after he scored his team’s final goal in the 4-0 victory over Al-Ettifaq.

Al-Ittihad, currently leading the league with 33 points, next face a challenging clash with Al-Nassr, in third with 25 points, next Friday at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.


India’s Jay Shah starts term as world cricket boss

India’s Jay Shah starts term as world cricket boss
Updated 01 December 2024
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India’s Jay Shah starts term as world cricket boss

India’s Jay Shah starts term as world cricket boss
  • The son of India’s powerful home minister Amit Shah was elected unopposed by the sport’s world body in August
  • Shah, the youngest person ever to hold the position, succeeds Greg Barclay, who decided not to seek a third term

NEW DELHI: Indian cricket boss Jay Shah began Sunday his tenure as chairman of the International Cricket Council, saying he looked forward to taking the sport to “new heights.”
The son of India’s powerful home minister Amit Shah was elected unopposed by the sport’s world body in August and succeeds Greg Barclay, who decided not to seek a third term.
At 36, he is the youngest person ever to hold the position.
“Cricket holds immense potential globally, and I look forward to working closely with the ICC team and Member countries to seize these opportunities and take the sport to new heights,” Shah said in a statement.
He said it was an “exciting” time for the sport with preparations underway for the 2028 Olympics and working to “make cricket more inclusive and engaging for fans worldwide.”
“We are at a critical juncture with the coexistence of multiple formats and the need to accelerate the growth of the women’s game,” he added.
From being the chief of the world’s richest cricket board to leading the ICC, Shah’s meteoric rise illustrates India’s domination of the sport’s global administration.
In a country where the sport and politics go hand in glove, Shah is best known for being the son of Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-hand man Amit Shah.
The ICC is the global governing body for cricket, with more than 100 members, and is responsible for staging global events such as the World Cup.
Shah’s start at his new job comes at a crucial time, with the fate of next year’s Champions Trophy hanging in the balance after India refused to travel to host nation Pakistan.
Sources from the ICC told AFP earlier this week that talks to settle the dispute were still ongoing.


Saudi clubs’ supremacy shines brighter light on AFC Champions League Elite

Saudi clubs’ supremacy shines brighter light on AFC Champions League Elite
Updated 01 December 2024
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Saudi clubs’ supremacy shines brighter light on AFC Champions League Elite

Saudi clubs’ supremacy shines brighter light on AFC Champions League Elite
  • It is hard to look past Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr or Al-Ahli for the title, especially with the home ground advantage in the knockout stages

AUSTRALIA: The recent surge in investment in the Saudi Pro League has, on the whole, been a positive thing for Asian football, with more eyeballs and interest in not only one of Asia’s flagship domestic leagues, but also in their showpiece continental tournaments.

Having the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Riyad Mahrez grace the fields of Asia’s premier club competition certainly gives it more international credibility and visibility.

Wherever Ronaldo goes with Al-Nassr, the crowds follow. There were unbelievable scenes in Iran last year when the Riyadh giants traveled to play Persepolis, while just this week more than 37,000 filled the cavernous Al-Bayt Stadium in Qatar to watch Al-Nassr edge local side Al-Gharafa.

Before the Ronaldo show rolled into town, Al-Gharafa had averaged a little over 4,000 spectators to their three other games this season.

Last season, meanwhile, Indian champions Mumbai City had to move their game with Al-Hilal to a bigger stadium, such was the rush for tickets for the arrival of Neymar; and although his ACL injury a few weeks prior quelled that excitement, more than 30,000 turned up.

The Saudi clubs are now box office wherever they go, and add a level of prestige to the competition that it has long needed.

The AFC Champions League has always maintained a level of prestige among Saudi clubs and fans, so it is no surprise that they have contested the final over the two decades since its initial reformatting in 2002.

Al-Ittihad won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005, while finishing as runners-up in 2009. Their Jeddah rivals Al-Ahli also fell one win short in 2012, losing the final in South Korea to Ulsan Hyundai, while Al-Hilal made it a hat-trick of defeats when they suffered a shock loss to Australia’s Western Sydney Wanderers in 2014.

Since then, the giants from Riyadh have made it their mission to dominate the continental scene, with a further four appearances in the final for a record of two wins and two losses while appearing in three of the last five finals.

All of that is to say Saudi clubs have a long and proud history in the AFC Champions League — which has now been rebranded as the AFC Champions League Elite — long before the record investment into the league over the past 18 months.

But what many feared, particularly on the eastern side of the continent, was that the scale of the investment would make the AFC Champions League Elite a plaything for Saudi clubs, with the other 21 clubs unable to compete or match the levels of investment and the quality of players at their disposal.

Al-Ain did a good job of upsetting the apple cart last year with wins over Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal in the quarterfinal and semifinal respectively, on their march to claiming a second continental title.

That may ultimately prove to be the exception rather than the norm, however.

A look at this year’s AFC Champions League Elite, the first tournament being staged with the new format of just 24 teams and an eight-game league stage format — similar to that of the UEFA Champions League — suggests that maybe the dam is about to burst when it comes to the dominance of Saudi clubs.

With three games still to play in the league stage, all three Saudi clubs — Al Hilal, Al Ahli and Al Nassr — are safely through to the round of 16.

Their combined record stands at 15 games played, 13 games won, two games drawn and zero losses. They have scored 41 goals and conceded just 13.

The group stage is not yet completed and already it is hard to look past one of the trio for the title, especially when you consider they will have the considerable home ground advantage in the knockout stages after the controversial decision by the AFC to stage the knockout rounds (from the quarterfinals onward) in a central location, with Saudi Arabia awarded the hosting rights for the foreseeable future.

One has to factor in the randomness of the knockout stage draws that could see Saudi clubs drawn together, and therefore taking each other out before getting to the pointy end. But with the AFC also doing away with the east-west split from the quarterfinals onward, there is also the possibility of all three making the semifinals, or even an all-Saudi final.

For Scott McIntyre, who has been reporting on Asian football for more than two decades, the writing is already on the wall for clubs in the east.

“I don’t think anyone from the east can challenge any of the Saudi clubs,” the Japan-based McIntyre recently said on “The Asian Game Podcast,” adding: “The game has shifted so far to the west that as long as things stay as they’re now and the spending is unrestricted in the west, and it’s not in the east, unless there’s a change in format I just can’t see anyone from the east challenging.

“For me (the tide) has shifted remarkably, and you just can’t compete with the financial powers that the west has. That’s the reality we’re living in.”

Based on the first five rounds this season, the era of Saudi domination appears to be here — and here to stay.


Dubai Basketball lose to Serbia’s FMP in last-gasp heartbreaker

Dubai Basketball lose to Serbia’s FMP in last-gasp heartbreaker
Updated 01 December 2024
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Dubai Basketball lose to Serbia’s FMP in last-gasp heartbreaker

Dubai Basketball lose to Serbia’s FMP in last-gasp heartbreaker
  • The 86-84 defeat in Belgrade leaves Dubai with a 7-3 ABA League record

Dubai: Dubai Basketball suffered a narrow 86-84 defeat at the hands of Serbia’s FMP Soccerbet in a thrilling ABA League game that was decided in the last eight seconds.

Following the international break last weekend, Dubai went into the Round 10 clash at Belgrade’s Arena KK FMP, looking to build on their home win against KRKA.

However, they left Serbia with their third loss of the season after a nail-biting finish. With only two seconds remaining, Dubai had a chance to tie the game up at 86 apiece, but Nate Mason missed both free throw attempts to leave FMP the winners. The result means Dubai Basketball takes their record to 7-3 for the season.

While captain Klemen Prepelic finished as Dubai Basketball’s top scorer with 19 points, and Ahmet Duverioglu led the charts with eight rebounds, head coach Jurica Golemac felt his players left too many opportunities on the court. By the final buzzer, FMP outrebounded Dubai 30-20, including 8-2 on the offensive glass.

“We said before the start that we would have to respond to their great energy, which was at a high level after the change of coach for them, and that we had to take care of the rebounds, which we didn’t do. With a game like that, you can’t win on the road,” Golemac said.

“We are all disappointed but there are still a lot of games to be played during the season and we will continue working hard to get as many wins as possible.”

In a closely fought encounter, Dubai trailed by six points in the first quarter but found their rhythm to go into half-time with a 42-39 lead, with a now healthy Davis Bertans, playing in his first game since Round 7, among the point scorers.

Early in the third quarter, the visitors found themselves holding a 12-point lead (51-39) but FMP responded strongly to end the quarter at 62-61. In the final 10 minutes, Dubai’s Isaiah Taylor’s driving layup put his team in the lead at 82-84 with just 1:04 remaining; but FMP’s Jan Novak tied the game with a bucket with just under a minute left, before Rebec drove to the basket and made a decisive layup that ultimately sealed the victory for the home team.

Dubai will next be on the road when they take on Croatia’s Zadar on Friday, Dec. 6, before their highly anticipated return to the Coca-Cola Arena on Sunday, Dec. 15, when they face Mornar.


Ferrari celebrates Endurance Cup glory as Mercedes-AMG team dominates 6 Hours of Jeddah

Ferrari celebrates Endurance Cup glory as Mercedes-AMG team dominates 6 Hours of Jeddah
Updated 01 December 2024
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Ferrari celebrates Endurance Cup glory as Mercedes-AMG team dominates 6 Hours of Jeddah

Ferrari celebrates Endurance Cup glory as Mercedes-AMG team dominates 6 Hours of Jeddah
  • Pier Guidi secures record third Endurance Cup title
  • First GT endurance event in the Kingdom proves popular with fans and drivers

Jeddah: Ferrari squad AF Corse — Francorchamps Motors secured teams’ and drivers’ titles at Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS after an astonishing finish to the 6 Hours of Jeddah.

The season-closing race was won in commanding fashion by the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter entry of Maro Engel, Lucas Auer and Daniel Morad, who emerged as leaders during the third hour and ran a faultless race thereafter. Behind them, a late full-course yellow and safety car shuffled the pack and paved the way for an incredible conclusion.

Crucially, the late neutralization allowed the #51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi, Alessio Rovera and Davide Rigon to move back into title contention. The pole-sitting car led early on but slipped down the order in the middle phase of the race and looked to be out of the hunt when it received a 30-second stop-go penalty for breaching track limits.

But by making its final stop during the full-course yellow the Ferrari vaulted to sixth for the late restart. Guidi was at the wheel for a typically inspired charge through the order, the Italian ace overhauling the Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin, the #46 Team WRT BMW and the #32 Team WRT BMW to snatch third.

This was enough to secure Guidi a record third Endurance Cup crown and Rovera his first while Rigon, who was absent from the Monza round, joined his teammates in their celebrations. The #163 Grasser Racing Lamborghini of Marco Mapelli, Jordan Pepper and Franck Perera finished as runner-up on the road and in the drivers’ standings.

In the final run to the flag the #51 Ferrari was under significant pressure from Dries Vanthoor in the #32 BMW. The Belgian needed to take the place to wrestle the overall Fanatec GT Europe drivers’ title from Engel and Auer but could not find a way past. Despite this, WRT was able to capture the overall teams’ championship for a record-extending fifth time.

Sainteloc Racing secured the Gold Cup teams’ and drivers’ titles with its crew of Gilles Magnus, Jim Pla and Paul Evrard. They did so in style, winning a competitive class battle ahead of the #777 AlManar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG and the debuting #85 Imperiale Racing Lamborghini.

The Silver Cup title was settled last time out at Monza in favor of Winward Racing. As such this class fight was all about pride and Sainteloc Racing rose to the occasion with one of the most impressive performances of the weekend. The #26 Audi of Ezequiel Perez Companc, Lucas Legeret and Kobe Pauwels led the entire race and finished 13th overall, beating the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG and the #12 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin.

Finally, the Bronze Cup victory went to Rutronik Racing with its #97 Porsche crew of Dustin Blattner, Loek Hartog and Dennis Marschall. This would not be quite enough to secure the Endurance Cup crown, which was retained by the impressively consistent Chris Froggatt, Jonathan Hui and Eddie Cheever. The latter pair also secured the overall Bronze Cup title, but Rutronik’s win gives them the teams’ championship on a tie break.

The race was punctuated by a long full-course yellow and safety car period around the one-hour mark, caused by a heavy crash involving the #111 CSA Racing Audi and the #8 Kessel Racing Ferrari. Arthur Rougier was at the wheel of the Audi and was taken for further medical checks, while Nicolo Schiro was able to get out of his Ferrari unaided.

The 6 Hours of Jeddah took Fanatec GT Europe to a new and highly impressive venue, one that received universal praise from the drivers. It proved popular with the public too, as 11,500 people were present to witness the Kingdom’s first GT endurance race. They will not have left disappointed.

The event concluded an unforgettable 2024 campaign highlighted by the centenary CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and this weekend’s maiden trip to Saudi Arabia. Although the celebrations have just begun, preparations for 2025 will begin soon. Indeed, in fewer than 100 days cars will be back on track for the official Prologue at Circuit Paul Ricard.