Ziyad Al-Maayouf: Last News

Amer Abdallah, director of boxing of Prince Khalid bin Abdulaziz’s Skill Challenge Entertainment, talks to Arab News about the landmark signing of Oleksandr Usyk — and other additions — to the organization, potential world title fights in Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom’s successful ventures into a diverse range of sports globally.

LONDON: England head coach Thomas Tuchel has never been slow to speak his mind and the German turned his ire on the Wembley fans on Thursday, criticizing the home supporters for being too quiet in a comfortable 3-0 friendly win against Wales. The mood was buoyant enough as goals by Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka in the opening 20 minutes made England’s eighth successive win over the Welsh a formality. With the game petering out in the second half, many England fans opted to leave early, some launched paper aeroplanes and it was only the loud away contingent who created any noise. “We had one-and-a-half training days to prepare against a well-trained team and we did very well,” Tuchel said. “We had an excellent first half, we were 3-0 up very quickly, but we could have been 4-0 up at halftime. “Then we couldn’t score, the fourth one, the fifth one, the stadium was silent, we never got any energy back from the fans.

NEW YORK: La Liga plans to make an international soccer match an annual event after announcing Barcelona and Villarreal will play outside Miami on Dec. 20, Spanish league president Javier Tebas said during an interview with The Associated Press. Becoming the first major European league to move a competitive match abroad, La Liga is following the model of the NFL, which has played in London since 2007, and this season also has games in Berlin, Dublin, Madrid and Sao Paulo. “The idea is to follow a similar model but with one difference: We will only play one match abroad,” Tebas said of future schedules.

BIR EL DJIR, Algeria: Algeria have become the fourth African country to qualify for the 2026 World Cup — and all of them are from the north of the continent. A 3-0 win over Somalia on Thursday guaranteed Algeria first place in Group G in African qualifying with a match to spare and a return to the World Cup for the first time since 2014. Algeria, captained by Riyad Mahrez and led by former Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic, joined neighboring nations Morocco and Tunisia as well as Mohamed Salah’s Egypt in securing a spot in next year’s expanded 48-team tournament being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

RIYADH: Saudi boxing champion Ziyad Al-Maayouf will take the stage as a keynote speaker and guest of honor at the Sport & Wellbeing Conference 2025 in Riyadh on Friday, delivering an inspiring address titled “Resilience: How to Bend Without Breaking.”

JAKARTA: Indonesia will not issue visas to Israeli athletes for the upcoming world artistic gymnastics championships in Jakarta, a minister said Thursday, citing the nation’s support for Palestinians. The event, scheduled for October 19-25 in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, is expected to feature more than 500 athletes from 79 countries. Israeli athletes were reportedly among those set to compete, but coordinating minister for legal affairs and human rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the government would not allow them entry. “The Indonesian government has a firm stance that it will not have any contact with Israel until Israel recognizes the existence of a free and sovereign Palestine,” Yusril said in a statement. Indonesia has no formal ties with Israel, but Israeli nationals or their sponsors, such as Indonesian-based businesses or Indonesian nationals, can apply for a short-term visa under the “calling visa” procedure. Israeli nationals with dual passports can also enter Indonesia using their other passport. Immigration and Corrections Minister Agus Andrianto told local media Kompas.com on Thursday the move followed a formal request from the Indonesian Gymnastics Federation. Andrianto confirmed the decision to AFP, without elaborating. The federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In July 2023, Indonesia pulled out of hosting the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) World Beach Games following controversy over Israel’s participation. In March that year, Indonesia lost the hosting rights to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup after two governors objected to Israel’s participation.

Saudi Arabian professional boxer Ziyad Al Maayouf will this weekend represent the Kingdom again in the ring as part of the card headlined by Jake Paul's long-awaited clash against Tommy Fury.

The long-in-the-making boxing bout between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury takes place this weekend in Saudi Arabia. Here’s the details.