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American artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez was in danger of drowning after losing consciousness in the pool at the world championships in Budapest on Wednesday before being rescued by her coach Andrea Fuentes. Spaniard Fuentes, a four-time Olympic medalist in synchronized swimming, jumped into the pool after she saw Alvarez sink to the bottom at the end of her solo free final routine. She was given medical attention beside the pool before being taken away on a stretcher. It was the second time Fuentes has had to rescue Alvarez after she leapt into the pool during an Olympic qualification event last year and pulled her to safety along with the American’s swim partner Lindi Schroeder. “Anita is much better, she is already at her best. It was a good scare, to be honest,” Fuentes told Spanish newspaper Marca on Wednesday. “I jumped into the water again because I saw that no one, no lifeguard, was jumping in. I got a little scared because she wasn’t breathing, but now she’s fine. She has to rest.” In a statement on the US Artistic Swimming Instagram page, Fuentes said 25-year-old Alvarez would be assessed by doctors on Thursday before a decision was made on her participation in Friday’s team event.
NYON, Switzerland: The fallout for soccer from Russia’s war on Ukraine saw UEFA block Sheriff Tiraspol on Friday from hosting European competition games in their breakaway home region in Moldova. Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk went to play Champions League games last season at the tiny Sheriff Stadium in Transnistria that borders Ukraine. But the club which have strong business and political ties to Russia cannot host Bosnian champion Zrinjski at their home on July 13 for a second-leg game in the first qualifying round of the next Champions League. “In light of the large-scale military escalation resulting in the invasion of the Ukrainian territory by the Russian army, the UEFA executive committee has today decided that no UEFA competition match shall be played in the region of Transnistria, in Moldova, until further notice,” the European soccer body said. Tiraspol is also about 90 kilometers (55 miles) from the Ukrainian city of Odesa, which is a regular target of Russian missiles. “The decision is based on considerations and the conclusions consistently drawn by agencies specialized in international political and strategic analysis,” UEFA said. Sheriff, which have won the Moldovan league in 20 of the past 22 seasons, could choose to play games in the nation’s capital city Chisinau. If Sheriff eliminates Zrinjski, the next opponent in July will be Shakhtyor Soligorsk of Belarus or Slovenian champion Maribor. Shakhtyor are playing their home games in neutral Turkey because of a separate UEFA ruling in March that national and club teams from Russia’s military ally Belarus cannot host games in European competitions. The loser between Sheriff and Zrinjski continues playing in the qualifying rounds of the third-tier Europa Conference League.
RIYADH: The Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC) celebrated Olympic Day in Riyadh on Thursday at the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Olympic Complex.
The organization’s CEO, Abdulaziz Alenazi, was in attendance at the event, along with SOPC employees, who took part in the annual tradition of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to celebrate June 23 along with 206 other International Olympic Committees.
The SOPC, in addition, held a public Olympic exhibition in a Commercial Mall at the heart of Riyadh, which included cultural and interactive activities to promote and disseminate the principles and values of the Olympic movement (“move-learn-discover”) to encourage all segments of society to engage in sports activities in addition to providing souvenirs to visitors to the center.
SOPC helps to facilitate the investment of the Saudi government into sporting initiatives as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 targets.
GENEVA: Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was acquitted in Switzerland on Friday for a second time in a retrial of alleged wrongdoing linked to former FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke. Al-Khelaïfi was cleared again of a charge of incitement to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement for allowing Valcke to use a vacation home in Sardinia rent free. Prosecutors tried to link the home, bought by a Qatari company in 2013, to Al-Khelaïfi-led broadcaster beIN Media Group getting a renewed World Cup rights deal from FIFA. Valcke, who was FIFA’s top administrator for eight years until being removed in 2015, was acquitted again of criminal mismanagement and convicted on separate charges not involving Al-Khelaïfi. They relate to taking kickbacks in negotiations for World Cup broadcast rights in Italy and Greece. The Swiss federal criminal court found Valcke guilty of repeated forgery and passive corruption. He was given a longer suspended sentence — 11 months instead of three — than he received after the original trial in September 2020. Lawyers for Valcke said in a statement he would appeal and “the guilty verdict is therefore in no way final.” A third defendant, Greek marketing executive Dinos Deris, was convicted of active corruption and given a 10-month suspended sentence after first being acquitted in 2020. He was again cleared of inciting Valcke to mismanagement against FIFA’s interests. The sentences for Valcke and Deris were both suspended for probationary periods of two years. The retrial was held in March at the Swiss federal criminal court after prosecutors appealed against the original verdicts. Al-Khelaïfi’s second acquittal was hailed by his legal team as “total vindication.” “The years of baseless allegations, fictitious charges and constant smears have been proven to be completely and wholly unsubstantiated — twice,” lawyer Marc Bonnant said in a statement. During a five-year investigation, Al-Khelaïfi, who is also a member of the World Cup host nation’s government, rose in power and status in European soccer. Despite being a suspect in Swiss criminal proceedings, Al-Khelaïfi was elected in 2019 to join the UEFA executive committee and now leads the influential European Club Association after PSG refused to join the failed Super League project last year. The prosecution case against Al-Khelaïfi focused on beIN’s renewal of World Cup rights in the Middle East and North Africa with FIFA around the time the Italian villa was bought. Lawyers for Al-Khelaïfi argued beIN’s deal for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups, said in court to be worth $480 million in total, was good for FIFA. While often using the vacation home from 2013 to 2015, Valcke also oversaw FIFA-led talks to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from June and July to the cooler months of November and December. FIFA was also awaiting, then dealing with the fallout from, its ethics committee’s investigation into the 2018-2022 World Cup bidding contests. The charges proven against Valcke related to filing three payments totaling 1.25 million euros ($1.32 million) to his personal company’s accounts as loans. However, the three appeal court judges withdrew an order made in 2020 for Valcke to pay FIFA 1.75 million euros ($1.84 million) in restitution. “Mr. Valcke did not harm FIFA and his full acquittal on the counts of mismanagement has therefore logically been confirmed,” his legal firm, Geneva-based RVMH Attorneys, said in a statement. “Just as logically, the criminal justice system has now rejected FIFA’s civil claims.” FIFA declined comment until studying the judges’ written verdict which the court has said will likely not be published before September. Valcke’s convictions were announced in the same week that former FIFA president Sepp Blatter was on trial in the same Bellinzona courthouse in a separate case. Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini faced fraud, forgery and financial misconduct charges. Verdicts are due on July 8 in that case, which relates to a Blatter-approved FIFA payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million) to Platini in 2011. Blatter and Valcke are still suspects in a separate Swiss criminal proceeding that also involves former FIFA finance director Markus Kattner. That case is about a $1 million FIFA payment to the Trinidad and Tobago soccer federation in 2010. Al-Khelaïfi has also been under investigation by financial prosecutors in Paris for payments linked to Qatari bids to host the track and field world championships, which were staged in Doha in 2019.
DUBAI: The UAE’s Arabian Ocean Rowing Team is aiming to row 5,000 kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean in support of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Clean Seas campaign.
The team announced a partnership with UNEP, which works with individuals and businesses to transform habits, practices, and standards around the globe to reduce marine waste.
The three-man team of James Raley, Rai Tamagnini and Toby Gregory will cross the Atlantic in an 8-meter-long boat in December this year.
Considered one of the last great adventures on the planet, more people have climbed Mount Everest or traveled into space than have rowed the journey unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean.
The UAE team will be totally self-sufficient for the duration of their expedition, relying entirely on desalinated seawater to hydrate, solar energy to power batteries and electronics, and eating freeze-dried food, all while confined to the small rowing boat.
They will face waves up to 40 feet high and extended sleep deprivation, rowing two hours on, two hours off for 24 hours a day.
Oceans are Earth’s largest biosphere and home to up to 80 percent of all life in the world, generating 50 percent of the oxygen we need and absorbing 25 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.
By capturing 90 percent of the additional heat generated from those emissions, oceans are a vital buffer against the impacts of climate change.
Without urgent action to conserve, protect, restore and sustainably manage marine ecosystems, the ocean will not be able to continue its major role in limiting and adapting toward climate change, threatening food security and economic stability.
The Arabian Ocean Rowing Team will use their ocean row to bring global publicity to environmental sustainability, reducing marine litter and protecting the oceans.
Through initiatives such as the team’s #BePartOfIt campaign, and visiting schools and business across the UAE, the team is raising awareness about ocean health and the issues caused by plastic pollution.
On their journey across the Atlantic, the trio will also take science experiments, designed by students, so that the public can understand firsthand how plastic pollution has impacted the ocean.
Toby Gregory, Arabian Ocean Rowing Team founder and project director, said: “It is a great honor and a privilege for the Arabian Ocean Rowing Team to be working alongside amazing and talented individuals within the Clean Seas initiative and campaign.
“The ocean and coastal ecosystems sit at the nexus of the triple planetary crisis, the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis and the pollution and waste crisis. The Clean Seas campaign has led the way in the global effort against marine litter and plastic pollution. Marine pollution is a complex problem and there is no simple solution; every one of us has a part to play.”
The Saudi Pro League title race is going down to the last day, and so is the relegation battle, as the conclusion of the 2021-22 season now becomes one of the most exciting in recent times.
The penultimate round of action took place on Thursday and it was epic as both Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad won their matches. Here are five things we learned from the action across the Kingdom.
1. Super Al-Dawsari puts Al-Hilal on the brink
Al-Hilal defeated Al-Fateh 3-0 and now know that a win in the final game will bring them the title. Salem Al-Dawsari scored twice in the first half to ensure that there was not going to be a surprise result. The 30-year-old is a scorer of spectacular goals — his strike against Al-Ittihad in the previous game was a thing of beauty — but that was not the case on Thursday. His first came from a scramble a meter from the goalline as a host of players tried to bundle the ball in the net or clear it. His second came from not much further out.
He won’t mind. This was all about the result and ensuring that the defending champions have their title fate in their hands. This was potentially a tricky game but Al-Hilal showed why they are a winning machine. They were two goals ahead by half-time and there was no way that Al-Fateh were going to come back. Al-Ittihad are waiting for their rivals to slip but they never came close to doing so with the likes of Al-Dawsari enjoying the race. Few expect they will let the trophy fall out of their hands against Al-Faisaly on Monday.
2. Al-Ittihad show fight to stay in the race
The long-time leaders fell off their perch at the top but stay in the race with a 3-1 come-from-behind win against Ettifaq. After 29 games, the top two teams are level on points, but Al-Hilal have the advantage as they have won both meetings between the two teams and have the better head-to-head record. Had Al-Ittihad lost last night, the title race would have been over.
With 20 minutes remaining that looked possible with the Tigers a goal down. Yet they bounced back thanks to a brace from Romarinho and a late strike from Abderrazak Hamdallah that sealed the win.
For a team that had taken one point from the previous three games and were on a serious wobble, it was an impressive comeback. It was helped by the introduction of Igor Coronado midway through the second half and the Brazilian offered creativity, ball retention and penetration.
All that will be needed in the final game against Al-Batin. Al-Ittihad will just have to beat another relegation struggler and hope that Al-Hilal fail in their task. It is not in the hands of the Jeddah club seeking a first title since 2009, but it is not over yet.
3. Al-Ahli drop into the danger zone
With all the focus on the title race, Al-Ahli have been quietly sliding down the table and the 3-1 loss at home to relegation rivals Al-Raed saw the Jeddah giants finally slip into the bottom three. With just one win from the last nine league games it is not hard to see why. The appointment of Robert Siboldi as coach in March has done little to change the team’s fortunes.
The problems were there on Thursday for all to see. The team fell asleep at a corner to allow Aqeel Al-Sahbi to slide home at the far post. The second goal on the hour saw a long ball cause chaos in the defense. And there was another set piece for the third goal which meant that Carlos Eduardo’s late consolation wasn’t much of one.
Now the unthinkable is close. The 2016 champions, runners-up in the Asian Champions League a decade ago, know that a loss against Al-Shabab in the final game will send them down and even a draw may not be enough. For a team that hasn’t kept a clean sheet since February, there are going to be a lot of nerves.
4. The relegation battle goes from dramatic to epic
With one game left to go, seven teams are still fighting for their top flight lives. With Al-Hazm down already, just three points separate Al-Tai (and their terrible goal difference) in ninth and Ettifaq in 15th. None are safe.
On Thursday Al-Raed, Al-Batin and Al-Faisaly won and then climbed above Ettifaq and Al-Ahli who have now slipped into the bottom three. Those two teams have fallen three places each just due to losing one game. Al-Taawoun picked up a valuable draw against Al-Shabab and after Al-Tai lost to Al-Faisaly, they can’t be completely relaxed either.
With so many teams involved, every point, every goal could be the difference between staying up or going down. There is so much to keep up with that it is almost impossible to do so. Almost every game in the final round will feature a team that is chasing the title or fighting to stay in the league. It’s great for the neutral but it’s going to be a tough night for fans of the strugglers.
5. Al-Nassr win the battle for third
The battle for third place has been raging between Al-Nassr and Al-Shabab just below the fight for the title. For a time in the season, these two teams were leading the chase for Al-Ittihad’s position before Al-Hilal went on their run.
Al-Nassr will take third thanks to a 4-1 win over the doomed Al-Hazm. Talisca scored twice to move on to 20 goals for the season. There have been rumors that the Brazilian will be on his way soon but he suggested after the game that this will not be the case. Al-Nassr will want to keep him.
Al-Shabab were riding high earlier in the season and were rocked a little by the departure of leading goalscorer Odion Ighalo in January. With the Nigerian in place perhaps they would have defeated Al-Taawoun instead of drawing 1-1. It has been a long season especially with the Asian Champions League in April, when the Riyadh club impressed, but the signs are positive for the next campaign.