Sports

GIANNI INFANTINO, president of FIFA, announced today (February 1) at a virtual meeting from Geneva that: “Next year, the Qatar 2022 world championship will have an audience, we hope that the COVID pandemic will be a thing of the past and we will all be able to see it in person.” “I’m really, really confident. We will enjoy the same magic that unites the whole world,” he said. “We’re going back to where we need to be.” The FIFA President continued: “We have

It's the kind of footage that wouldn't look out of place in any family's video archive, a toddler taking her first tentative steps at the playground.But for the 14-year-old American Minna Stess, the grainy, early footage signals something more momentous. It shows her cautiously trying to climb onto a skateboard, only for it to squirt out beneath her and roll away down the hill. An adorably clumsy chase ensues, and the cycle is repeated again. And again. Pretty much every day of her

Serena Williams says she may not have been able to play in the Australian Open had it not been pushed back by three weeks. The first Grand Slam of the year was delayed to allow players to quarantine. Williams, chasing a record-equalling 24th major singles title next week, said she "needed the extra time" to fully recover from an Achilles injury sustained at the US Open in September. She and Britain's Katie Boulter won their openers as warm-up events began. The two are playing

Salah scored for the first time in seven Premier League games with a brilliant double at West Ham United to help Liverpool move up to third in the table. A trademark quick shift and curling finish from the Egypt striker was reward for a bright start to the second half from the Reds after Jurgen Klopp's side had failed to add a cutting edge to their first-half possession. Salah capped a scintillating Liverpool counter-attack to double his side's lead 11 minutes later, instantly

Spain’s tennis player was diagnosed with early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma and went through chemotherapy. Former world number six female tennis player Carla Suarez Navarro says she dreams of a return to competitive action following cancer treatment and this year’s postponed Tokyo Olympics would be the perfect stage to call time on her career. Spaniard Suarez Navarro said in September she was diagnosed with early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer, and would need to go through six months of chemotherapy.

Strong bowling and powerful batting as Qalanders trounce Pune Devils by nine wickets. Dubai: Qalandars trounced Pune Devils by nine wickets in the fourth match of the Abu Dhabi T10 at Zayed Cricket Stadium, thanks to a clinical display of accurate bowling and powerful hitting, The first match of the second day saw Qalandars exhibiting their enormous bowling strength to restrict Pune Devils to 107-2 despite Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s fine knock of 53. Qalandars then raced to the target through Tom Banton’s 45 off

England all-rounder Ben Stokes, fast-bowling spearhead Jofra Archer, and batsman Rory Burns will begin their training on Saturday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium for the upcoming first Test against India slated to be played from February 5. While England's touring contingent arrived in Chennai on Wednesday and are undergoing quarantine, Stokes, Archer, and Burns touched down in India a few days before the rest of their teammates, who were wrapping up the 2-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka. The trio will practice

DUBAI: Virat Kohli remained the highest-placed Indian batsman at fourth position even as Cheteshwar Pujara rose a rung to sixth in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Saturday. Apart from Kohli (862) and Pujara (760), Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (748) is the other Indian batsman in the top-10, hanging on to the eighth spot. Pujara moved up one place to sixth, while wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and star opener Rohit Sharma remained static on the 13th and 18th spots respectively.

Preparation for this year's Australian Open has been unlike anything these professional tennis players have previously experienced. Some have been through a "hard quarantine" and unable to leave their hotel rooms at all for 14 days, while others have been allowed out to practice for limited hours during the day. However, there is one element of the upcoming tournament, set to begin on February 8, that will at least give the players some sense of normalcy.For the first time at a grand slam

DOHA: Mohammed Saeed Haidan shone on Friday in the ninth round of Qatar Equestrian Tour Longines Hathab by winning the Medium and Small Tour at the Al Rayyan Racecourse. In the Medium category, Haidan rode MISS CHILI to win the honour while in the Small category, he rode QUICK STEP.ExxonMobil won the team title in the competition. The annual Qatar Equestrian Tour, which takes place over 12 series of competitions, is organized and hosted jointly by Qatar Equestrian Federation and Al Shaqab. The

DOHA: Reigning Asian champions Ulsan Hyundai (South Korea) and African champions Al Ahly arrived here for the FIFA Club World Cup.The players and officials underwent COVID-19 testing before departing for their designated hotel. They will remain in a medical bubble throughout the tournament in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. A large number of Egyptian fans were at the Hamad International Airport to greet their favourite team. Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane said: “We are delighted to be in Qatar for this

DOHA: Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke and his English navigator Sebastien Marshall finished the opening special stage at the 2021 Qatar International Rally with a 6.6-second advantage over Qatar’s ace driver Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah at Katara on late Friday evening.  Driving a Skoda Fabia R5, Meeke clocked a time of 4min 14.3sec.The 4.4km stage consisted of two runs and two laps of a purpose-built track.This followed immediately after the event’s pre-event press conference and a ceremonial start where 17 cars taking part in

Daily crowds of between 25,000 and 30,000 will be allowed to watch the Australian Open, organisers said Saturday in a big boost to the season's opening Grand Slam. Aggressive restrictions on incoming travel have helped keep the coronavirus largely at bay in Australia, making it one of the few places in the world where fans can still attend sports events in significant numbers. Victoria state's Sports Minister Martin Pakula said it equated to some 390,000 spectators across the two-week spectacle -- around half

Kagiso Rabada achieved the feat on Day three of the ongoing first Test against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi. Kagiso Rabada became the 8th South African to scalp 200 Test wicketsRabada took 8,154 balls to claim his 200th wicket in the longest formatRabada is the fourth-youngest bowler ever to reach the milestonePace spearhead Kagiso Rabada on Thursday not only became the eighth South African to scalp 200 Test wickets, but also became the third-fastest Proteas bowler to reach the milestone in

Changes to the F1 schedule confirmed for the 2021 season with races to again start at the top of the hour and Friday's two practice sessions reduced from 90 to 60 minutes apiece; first race in Bahrain on March 28 will start at 4pm in UK Formula 1 races will revert to starting at the top of the hour in the 2021 season, the sport has formally confirmed, while Friday practice track time has been cut by an hour. Grands Prix had started

Thousands of cheering fans packed the stands on Friday to watch some of tennis' biggest stars warm up for the Australian Open -- with hardly a face mask to be seen. In an unusual scene for the coronavirus pandemic, the 4,000 crowd sat cheek by jowl as big hitters including Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka emerged from their 14-day quarantine to play exhibition matches ahead of the first grand slam of the year in Melbourne next month.The scene prompted joy on

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Spinners Nauman Ali and Yasir Shah rattled South Africa to help Pakistan win the first test by seven wickets inside four days on Friday. Nauman, a 34-year-old left-arm spinner making his test debut, returned 5-35 and Shah took 4-79 to dismiss South Africa for 245 in the second innings before lunch on day four. It set up a small target of 88 and despite Anrich Nortje’s (2-24) twin strike in one over, Pakistan reached 90-3 before tea in 22.5

In an unprecedented build-up schedule for an overseas Test series, India will take on India A in a four-day practice match when the two sides travel to England later this year. The game will be played at the County Ground in Northamptonshire in July later this year. The exact dates of the match will be unveiled later. The India cricket team is scheduled to tour England in August and September to play five Test matches, beginning with the opening game at Nottingham on

DUBAI, UAE — Richard Sterne fired a superb 8-under-par 64 to open up a one-stroke lead over Kurt Kitayama after the first day of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, with Ryder Cup stars Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey also in contention. Sterne started on the tenth hole at Emirates Golf Club and notched five birdies before the turn and picked up another four shots on his closing nine, with just one blemish coming on the par-4 sixth hole. “It's always good to get

The 2021 Qatar International Rally roars into life at Katara on Friday evening. The ceremonial start podium will be held at 20.15hrs and teams will then tackle two runs and two laps of a purpose-built super special stage from 21.30hrs. Then, ahead of an impressive field of drivers and co-drivers from 12 nations are two days of high-speed competition across the northern deserts of the State of Qatar that will make the opening round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) such