RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Sport Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal on Friday concluded his official visit to the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, to attend the 77th meeting of the Executive Office of the Olympic Council of Asia.
Prince Abdulaziz, who is also president of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia, attended the meeting, which was chaired by Acting President of Olympic Council of Asia Randhir Singh, in the presence of Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, vice chairman of the committee, member of the Executive Office and chairman of the council’s Education Committee.
The meeting adopted the decision to postpone the date of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, which was scheduled to be held in China in September, to next year, due to developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic in that country, which may hinder the participation of many athletes in the tournament.
The meeting also agreed to cancel this year’s edition of the Asian Youth Games, which was scheduled to be held in Shantou, China.
On the sidelines of his visit to Tashkent, Prince Abdulaziz signed a memorandum of understanding between the committee and its Olympic and Paralympic counterparts in Uzbekistan to enhance cooperation and joint coordination in the field between the two countries.
He also attended an official celebration, which was held by the Uzbek Olympic Committee to mark the 30th anniversary of the committee’s founding, in the presence of a number of Uzbek officials and sports figures.
Saudi sport minister attends Olympic Council of Asia meeting in Uzbekistan
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Saudi sport minister attends Olympic Council of Asia meeting in Uzbekistan
Guardiola hails Man City’s ‘massive’ win over Newcastle
- Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Pep Guardiola labelled Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday as a “massive” moment in the Premier League title race.
Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Nico O’Reilly put City ahead in the first half and restored the lead before half-time after Lewis Hall had equalized.
City weren’t at their best in the second half, but they held on to pile pressure on spluttering Arsenal, who travel to Tottenham for the north London derby on Sunday.
Guardiola knew it was essential to make Arsenal sweat.
“Massive. Newcastle is an incredible team, awesome in physicality and speed they have up front. Physicality in the middle. Really tough but the team was unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s coming in best part of the season. Every single game will be similar to today.”
After finishing without a trophy last season, City are back in the hunt for the seventh English title of Guardiola’s reign.
They will have a game in hand on Arsenal after this weekend and are guaranteed to win the title if they win their last 11 league matches.
Guardiola has embarked on an expensive overhaul of City’s squad in the last 12 months, shedding aging stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson and Kyle Walker and bringing in the likes of Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki.
The Spaniard is well aware that his new generation largely lacks the experience of winning under the pressure of a title race, which made their gritty success against Newcastle even more meaningful.
“70 percent of the players have never been in that situation, and I don’t play. So we have to live it, they know that every game will be like this,” he said.
“Especially at home, with five home games left. Today was the best crowd of the year, it was unbelievable with our people, really proud to be manager of these incredible people and fans.
“Of course in terms of points it’s important, but we have to improve to have chance to compete until the end. Now we deserve three more days off. Then another battle in Leeds.”
Guardiola singled out O’Reilly for praise after the young England midfielder’s pair of clinical finishes showed he won’t be affected by the strain of chasing Arsenal.
“Nico give us in the middle that physicality that we need. He now plays in his position,” he said.
“He has always played that, he is so complete and so young. I am really pleased the academy produced these incredible players, Nico, Phil (Foden), Rico (Lewis).”
