KSA and Egypt champions to inaugurate Qatar’s World Cup final stadium

• The 80,000 capacity gold coloured venue, in the Lusail new city just north of Doha, was the last of the eight World Cup stadiums to be completed
• A test event is to be staged there on August 11 when a Qatar championship match between Al-Arabi SC and Al-Rayyan is held

Doha vows to complete building work before start of World Cup

• The two days seminars will brief the qualified team staff of Qatar World Cup on logistics, security, playing conditions and refereeing
• Representatives of the qualified nations can observe the preparation of stadiums for FIFA 2022 and can also visit training grounds ahead of the tournament's opening

Morocco and Israel face off in women basketball ‘friendly’ game

• According to the Israel Basketball Federation (IBBA) website, it was the first time that Arab female players had faced an Israeli national team in their country
• There were no spectators at the invitation only event

Media giants buy Indian Premier League cricket rights for $6.2 billion

• The amount paid for the rights to one of the world's most watched sports contests dwarfs the $2.55 billion that Star India paid in 2017 for the previous five seasons to 2022.
• The buyer was Viacom18, a joint venture between Reliance and US group Paramount Global as well as a group reportedly backed by James Murdoch.

FIFA says Israeli citizens can travel to Qatar World Cup

• Qatar does not have diplomatic ties with Israel. It supports Hamas and cut commercial ties with Israel in 2009.
• The two countries had established commercial relations in 1996, when then Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres visited Qatar's capital Doha.

Algeria ex-football star Rabah Madjer on trial for fraud

• Madjer, who owned two newspapers, is accused of continuing to bank revenues from public advertising for a year after the papers were closed
• Algeria's national publishing and advertising agency (ANEP) has demanded the return of fees as well as the payment of damages

Dustin Johnson heads field for $25 mn Saudi-backed LIV Golf opener

• The US PGA Tour has refused to grant releases for its players in the LIV event, which clashes with next week's Canadian Open
• The LIV tournament at Centurion Club at St Albans, north of London, will have the largest purse in golf history at $25 million

Salah’s loss plunges Egypt into gloom

• It was another blow for Mohamed Salah who was reduced to tears twice this year following Egypt's losses to Senegal in both the African Cup of Nations final and the World Cup
• For many in Egypt, where public gatherings are effectively prohibited, football offers a rare avenue for distraction away from daily struggles

Saudi football coach signs new deal after World Cup success

• The Frenchman was shown signing a shirt with the number "2027" in a video posted by the official Twitter account of the Saudi national team
• Saudi Arabia reached their sixth World Cup and second in a row with room to spare after finishing top of their qualifying group ahead of Japan and Australia

Hosting FIFA World Cup 2022 will give hope to youth in GCC, says Qatar’s emir