Iraqi women table tennis players chase Paralympic dreams
Diwaniyah, Iraq -- Iraqi table tennis player Nur al-Huda Sarmad adjusts her wheelchair before striking the ball into play, braving...
Arts & Culture
Saudi Arabia and Qatar to host Asian playoffs for World Cup: AFC
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- Saudi Arabia and Qatar will host the Asian qualifying playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, the...
Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
Coach Mancini lays out Saudi’s plan at Asian Cup
Doha, Qatar - Roberto Mancini said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia fear no team at the Asian Cup and will not...
- "Our calculation is always to win all the games we play," said Mancini, who won the European Championship with his native Italy in 2021.
- Mancini has repeatedly played down Saudi Arabia's chances of winning the Asian Cup saying Japan, South Korea, Iran and Australia are favorites.
Business
Tata Group retains IPL sponsorship rights for record $300m
New Delhi, India - Corporate behemoth Tata Group has again been awarded title sponsorship rights of the Indian Premier League for...
- Tata Group already holds the title sponsorship for the IPL and its sister competition, the Women's Premier League, which staged its first tournament last year
- The IPL attracts cricket's top international stars with bumper salaries, and features 10 sides competing in the sport's hugely popular Twenty20 format
Arts & Culture
Coach Mancini warns Saudi against taking Kyrgyzstan lightly
Doha, Qatar - Roberto Mancini warned Saudi Arabia against falling victim to the kind of Asian Cup shock suffered by favorites...
- Coach Mancini's team are ranked 56th in the world and are one of the contenders for the title while Kyrgyzstan are 98th
- The 59-year-old Mancini, who led Italy to European glory in 2021, took over ambitious Saudi Arabia in August last year
Saudi Dakar rally 2024 concludes with participation of 778 drivers, co-drivers
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - The city of Yanbu witnessed on Friday evening the closing ceremony of the 5th edition of...
- 778 drivers and co-drivers participated navigating a fleet of 434 vehicles in 6 categories: cars, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicle (ATV) or quads and others
- Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, from team "Audi," clinched the title for the fourth time in the car category, marking his second win in the Kingdom
Geostrategy
Iraq upsets Japan to sail into knockouts of Asian Cup
Doha, Qatar - Aymen Hussein scored two first-half headers as Iraq stunned Asian Cup favorites Japan 2-1 on Friday to reach...
- Iraq -- ranked 63 in the world to Japan's 17 -- endured a nervous finish after Liverpool's Wataru Endo pulled one back in the third of eight minutes of injury time
- It was Japan's first Asian Cup group-stage defeat in 26 matches and set them on a potential collision course with South Korea in the last 16 in Qatar
Geostrategy
Turkish club send Israeli player to Maccabi Tel Aviv after Gaza controversy
ISTANBUL, TURKEY - Turkish first division club Basaksekir on Thursday sent Israeli midfielder Eden Karzev on loan to Maccabi Tel Aviv following...
- The Istanbul side launched disciplinary proceedings against Eden Karzev after the defensive midfielder shared a message about the hostages..
- The probe came the same day Israeli footballer Sagiv Jehezkel was charged with incitement to hatred for displaying a message on the Gaza war.
Arts & Culture
Afif helps Qatar exorcise World Cup demons at Asian Cup
Doha, Qatar - Asian Cup hosts and holders Qatar have been on a mission to banish the painful memory of their...
- Qatar lost all three of their World Cup games on home soil on their way to a first-round exit just over a year ago, the worst record of any host in the competition's history
- But it's been a different story at the Asian Cup -- albeit after only two games against moderate opposition -- and Tintin Marquez's side are the first to reach the knockout rounds
Business
Saudi Arabia unveils 45,000-seat multi-use stadium in Qiddiya City
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - The Board of Directors of the Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) announced on Monday the launch of...
- Upon opening, the stadium is anticipated to host some of Saudi Arabia’s biggest sports, entertainment, and cultural events.
- It aims to draw visitors from across the globe and revolutionize the traditional stadium experience with its immersive design.
Palestine lose to Iran at Asian Cup as Japan survive scare
Loud cries went up for the Palestinian anthem before the game and the team's players put their arms around each...
- Palestine's first match of the tournament coincided with 100th day of Israel-Hamas war, the grim milestone adding extra significance to an occasion that went beyond football
- Palestinian flags were scattered among the crowd of nearly 28,000 at Education City Stadium, and their goal just before half-time got the biggest cheer of the night
Arts & Culture
Ronaldo effect? Saudi spending spree fuels Asian Cup hopes
Saudi Pro League sides have shelled out to lure big-name players while Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2034...
- Mancini left more than a dozen of the World Cup squad out of his Asian Cup roster, although injuries have also played a part.
- Saudi Pro League clubs' spending on players over the summer was topped only by the English Premier League.
Iraqi women table tennis players chase Paralympic dreams
Diwaniyah, Iraq -- Iraqi table tennis player Nur al-Huda Sarmad adjusts her wheelchair before striking the ball into play, braving...
Arts & Culture
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Qatar’s ‘Hit Show’ wins $12 million Dubai World Cup
Arts & Culture
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Saudi Arabia’s sports fund invests in DAZN streaming service
Paris, France - Saudi Arabian sports investment fund SURJ, linked to the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, has acquired a minority stake...
Business
Big money as Saudi Arabia makes foray into cricket with IPL auction
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has backed extravagant sports investments -- set to culminate in Saudi Arabia hosting the football...
Israeli football supporters back home after Amsterdam violence
Tel Aviv, Israel - A plane bringing Israeli football supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel's Ben Gurion airport on Friday after...
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FIFA defers decision on Palestinian request to suspend Israel
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement: "The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter...
- At FIFA's congress in Bangkok in May, the Palestinian Football Association called for its Israeli counterpart to be suspended and for Israeli teams to be banned from FIFA event
- FIFA was initially set to hold an extraordinary session of its ruling council before July 20 to review the independent legal analysis and decide how to proceed
Bosnia and Egypt clinch crucial wins in Paralympic sitting volleyball
Since first qualifying for the Paralympics in 2000, Bosnia have never finished outside of the podium and they made a...
- Bosnia, the two-time Paralympic champions in the event, ensured their progression to the semi-finals with a thrilling 3-2 win against Kazakhstan
- Later in the same pool, Egypt raced to a straight-sets win against France to secure their first win of the tournament
Imane Khelif – boxer in gender row and now Olympic champion
A strong athlete, she played football with the boys in her village of Biban Mesbah, but beating them in matches...
- Sporting braided hair and standing strong at 1.79 metres (5ft 9in), the 25-year-old has unwittingly become one of the central figures of the Games
- Along with Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, she was disqualified from last year's world championships after failing gender eligibility testing, only to be cleared later