Fears for France as virus spreads, and is enough attention given to players’ mental health?

17.12.2022 - 17:31 france24.com

Our team in Doha (Simon Harding and Selina Sykes) join Ruben Slagter and James Vasina to discuss all the latest on- and off-pitch action in Qatar. Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning Take international news everywhere with you!

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KUALA LUMPUR: The Asian Champions League is set to be revamped in the 2024-25 season as part of reforms that should add a third club soccer competition for the continent. The marquee Champions League would be cut to 24 teams, instead of the current 40, playing eight guaranteed games in an opening league stage instead of six in a traditional group stage, the Asian Football Confederation said Friday. The proposal echoes changes in Europe’s Champions League which take effect with a new, 36-team league stage in 2024 before the knockout rounds.

Saudi boxer Sara Al-Shahrani strikes a blow for TKO Fighters

RIYADH: Dec. 23 marks a milestone for American coach Lee Starks and his Saudi-founded TKO Fighters gym as one of his prize pupils Sara Al-Shahrani will step into the ring in Yaounde, Cameroon to compete in a WBF international championship event. Al-Shahrani will face Mokam Jeanne in a professional event amateur fight in the 52 kg weight class.

Mubadala tennis championship thrills again with top performances

ABU DHABI: The 14th Mubadala World Tennis Championship served up another memorable three-day festival here at the weekend, with a new champion crowned in front of thousands of spectators.

James Doyle lands Crown Prince Cup on Saudi return

RIYADH: James Doyle partnered My Frankel to a comfortable success in the Crown Prince Cup (Domestic Group 1) at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh on Saturday.

Mubadala World Tennis Championship set for gripping finale

ABU DHABI: The final of the 14th Mubadala World Tennis Championship promises to be a thrilling affair between defending champion Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas following a scintillating day of semifinal action at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City, in Abu Dhabi.

World Cup hits and misses

DOHA: Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have dazzled at the World Cup in Qatar, while Morocco caught the imagination of a continent on their run to the semifinals. But the host nation flopped badly, Germany made a swift exit and Cristiano Ronaldo discovered he was no longer an automatic pick for Portugal. AFP Sport looks at the hits and misses from a month-long festival of football. Overachievers Morocco became the first African side and the first Arab team to reach the semifinals of a World Cup. And it was no fluke. Walid Regragui’s men, ranked 22nd in the world, beat Belgium and drew with Croatia on the way to topping their group before dumping 2010 champions Spain and Portugal out of the tournament. Roared on by tens of thousands of fans and supported across Africa and the Arab world, they came up short in the semifinals, losing 2-0 to France, but they have broken new ground. Japan shocked Germany and Spain to top their group before losing on penalties to Croatia in the round of 16. South Korea underlined the progress Asian football is making by beating Portugal to qualify from their group but came unstuck against Brazil in the first knockout round.