Cricket’s 21st century growing pains
A central tenet of the International Cricket Council in recent years has been to achieve growth in cricket.
Jon Pike Cricket Column Sport News
Ben Sulayem: Saudi Arabia providing Arab world a major long-term F1 future
DUBAI: Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA, has hailed Saudi Arabia’s role in cementing a long-term future for Formula 1 in the Middle East.
Mbappe returns to France squad as PSG’s Doue earns first call-up
PARIS: Captain Kylian Mbappe returned to the France squad named Thursday for this month’s UEFA Nations League quarter-final against Croatia, as Paris Saint-Germain teenager Desire Doue earned a first call-up. Mbappe, 26, was left out of the last two France squads by coach Didier Deschamps for the Nations League group stage in October and November. The Real Madrid superstar was initially dropped because of fitness concerns, before later being left out amidst headlines about his private life. Deschamps said at the time that his decision to do without Mbappe was “for the best” due to the noise surrounding the striker. Mbappe has been in fine form for Real in the months since and has scored 28 goals in all competitions this season for the club he joined last year. “I have chatted with him and I confirm what I already said a few weeks ago, that he will be the captain,” Deschamps said in response to questions about Mbappe’s ongoing role as skipper. The versatile Doue, meanwhile, has been rewarded for his impressive club form. The 19-year-old has scored or set up a total of 17 goals in 23 appearances since becoming a regular in the PSG side in mid-December. Capable of playing as a winger as well as in midfield, Doue was outstanding after coming off the bench for PSG in Tuesday’s Champions League last 16, second leg against Liverpool, and scored the winning kick in the penalty shoot-out. Signed by PSG from Rennes for a reported 50 million euros ($54.1m) in August, Doue was part of Thierry Henry’s France Under-23 team that won the silver medal at the Paris Olympics last year. “He is not always a starter for his club but whenever he plays or comes on he has made a lot of progress,” Deschamps said. “He is a very young player but
Kimmich extends Bayern contract until 2029
BERLIN: Bayern Munich on Thursday announced Joshua Kimmich had signed a four-year extension to his contract that had been set to expire at the end of the season. Germany international Kimmich said he made his decision because Bayern is “the best environment to achieve my sporting goals. “There’s currently no better package of teammates, coaching staff and club environment for me to achieve maximum success. I feel at home here and I’m not finished yet.” After Tuesday’s 2-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen sent Bayern through to the Champions League quarter-finals, Kimmich told reporters he was set to prolong his stay at the club.
Esports World Cup Foundation announces multi-year partnership with Capcom
RIYADH: The Esports World Cup Foundation and Capcom have announced a multi-year partnership that integrates the Street Fighter e-sports ecosystem — Capcom’s Capcom Pro Tour and Street Fighter League — into the Esports World Cup for the next three years.
India’s cup overflows after New Zealand win, but dominance could breed antipathy
When previewing the International Cricket Council’s 2025 Champions Trophy for Arab News, Azeem Rafiq felt that India started as slight favorites. As the tournament progressed, it became apparent that several factors underlined that initial assessment. India’s superiority and team cohesion was sufficient to achieve an unbeaten route to the final in which a tenacious New Zealand was narrowly beaten.
Women’s tennis players now are eligible for paid maternity leave funded by Saudi Arabia’s PIF
DUBAI: Pregnant players on the women’s tennis tour now can receive 12 months of paid maternity leave, and those who become parents via partner pregnancy, surrogacy or adoption can get two months off with pay, under a program sponsored by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and announced Thursday by the WTA. “Independent contractors and self-employed individuals don’t typically have these kinds of maternity benefits provided and available to them. They have to go out and sort of figure out those benefits for themselves,” WTA CEO Portia Archer said. “This is really sort of novel and groundbreaking.” More than 300 players are eligible for the fund, which is retroactive to Jan. 1. The WTA would not disclose how much money is involved.
Prosecutors demand Rubiales forced kiss trial be re-run
MADRID: Prosecutors on Thursday requested that the trial of Spain's ex-football federation chief Luis Rubiales for his forced kiss on Jenni Hermoso be annulled and re-run, notably questioning the judge's impartiality. Spain's top criminal court last month found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for the kiss and fined him 10,800 euros ($11,670), sparing him jail in a sentence considered lenient by feminist groups. The sentence fell well short of the demands of prosecutors, who had sought a total of two and a half years in prison for Rubiales, one year for sexual assault and 18 months for allegedly coercing Hermoso to downplay the kiss. Hermoso is appealing the sentence, which also cleared Rubiales and three other defendants of coercion, including former women's team coach Jorge Vilda and two senior ex-federation officials. The prosecutors said in a statement that they were appealing the sentence and requested the trial be declared null and void and "held again by another judge not tainted, to say the least, by an appearance of bias". They said judge Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto "unduly" prevented the prosecutor in the trial, Marta Durantez, from posing certain questions and cited the "arbitrariness" of his sentence. The statement added that the judge "made no mention in the sentence" of key evidence brought up during the trial, "as if such evidence had not existed". Fernandez-Prieto attracted attention during the trial for his brusque attitude, frequently interrupting and scolding participants. Rubiales was also banned from going within a 200-metre radius of Hermoso and from communicating with her for a period of one year.