DOHA: Officials are expecting congested roads during the World Cup and warn that managing four soccer games a day in Doha will be a challenge, tournament organizers said on Wednesday.
A central innovation organizers promised for Qatar’s World Cup is that fans can take in multiple matches in a single day in the smallest country to host the global showpiece event, which kicks off on Nov. 20.
Qatar is expecting an unprecedented 1.2 million visitors during the month-long tournament, more than a third of the Gulf Arab state’s population of about 3 million.
“Having four matches in a day is a challenge, in a city like Doha ... of course we are expecting to have congestion on the streets,” said Abdulaziz Ali Al-Mawlawi, mobility director at the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Qatar’s tournament organizers.
“Therefore, we are here today ... to give notices and warn fans to follow certain rules.”
To reduce congestion, Al-Mawlawi urged fans to travel early to matches with multiple people in the same car. Additionally, Qatar has ordered schools to close and 80 percent of government employees to work from home. It has banned certain vehicles from central Doha.
Games will take place at eight stadiums all located within 40 kilometers of central Doha. During the first two weeks of the tournament there will be four matches each day, with kickoffs scheduled between 1300 and 2200 local time.
The Hayya card, Qatar’s mandatory fan ID, will give fans free access to the metro system, which links the city’s two airports with five stadiums.
During the tournament, the metro will boost operations, laying on 110 trains instead of the usual 75 that will stop every 165 seconds, 21 hours per day, said Abdulla Saif Al-Sulaiti, Chief of Service Delivery at metro operator Qatar Rail.
Qatar will operate more than 3,100 busses during the tournament, nearly quadrupling the number of buses in the country, which is approximately the size of Jamaica. Additionally, 3,000 taxis and 11,500 Ubers will be available.
Expect World Cup congestion, amid Qatar’s ‘challenging’ four-game daily schedule, say organizers
https://arab.news/w2jeb
Expect World Cup congestion, amid Qatar’s ‘challenging’ four-game daily schedule, say organizers
- “Having four matches in a day is a challenge, in a city like Doha,” said Abdulaziz Ali Al-Mawlawi
- Games will take place at eight stadiums all located within 40 kilometers of central Doha
Jorge Jesus hails ‘spectacular season’ as Al-Hilal secure 19th league title
- Roshn Saudi League set to ‘grow better and better,’ Portuguese coach says
- Side will contest King’s Cup final against Riyadh rivals Al-Nassr at end of season
RIYADH: Al-Hilal manager Jorge Jesus declared 2023/24 “a spectacular season” after the club claimed their 19th Saudi Pro League championship with a 4-1 victory over Al-Hazem on Saturday night.
Twelve points ahead of Riyadh rivals and nearest Roshn Saudi League challengers Al-Nassr, the title was won with three games to spare. Unbeaten domestically this season, with 29 wins from 31 league matches, Al-Hilal also created world football history earlier in the campaign by winning 34 matches in succession across all competitions.
“The Al-Hilal team this season has made a spectacular season. What we have achieved is an example for all the others because if we see all the details then we are the best in goalscoring, best in fewest goals conceded, no losses in the league and obviously the most points,” Jesus said in a statement released by the club.
“We are the Super Cup winners, in the semifinal (sic) of the King’s Cup and have won the league. We only failed in the Asian Champions League, in the semifinal, but if we speak about the Saudi level then winning the King’s Cup will mean we have won everything available this season in Saudi.
“That’s my habit wherever I’ve been — with Flamengo in Brazil I did this, with Benfica in Portugal I did this and now at Al-Hilal this can be achieved. We prepared to do this from the beginning of the season — but we have had to do this missing key players — Neymar for most of the time, Mitrovic for some of the time. But I have the notion that the Saudi league will grow better and better every time.”
All of the goals in Al-Hilal win over Al-Hazem at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium came in the first half.
Mitrovic gave his side the lead from the penalty spot in the 15th minute, striking low into the bottom corner. Faiz Selemani equalized through a well-taken curling shot only for Aljuwayd to then loft into his own net from the edge of the box trying to pass back to the goalkeeper after being put under pressure by Milinkovic-Savic.
Al-Hilal’s Serbian duo completed the scoring in injury time. Firstly, Mitrovic tucked home his compatriot’s cut back and then Milinkovic-Savic curled into the bottom corner for 4-1.
Al-Hazem coach Saleh Al-Mohammadi, whose side remain bottom of the 18-team league, said: “Al-Hilal are a very strong team. Because of individual mistakes we lost the game. If you don’t play well against the champions of the league then that will happen.”
Ahead of Al-Hilal’s next game, Portuguese coach Jesus warned compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo’s team Al-Nassr not to expect a weakened side at Al-Awwal Park on Friday in the second Riyadh derby of the season. Al-Hilal won the first clash 3-0 in December.
The two teams will also contest the King’s Cup final at the end of the season and Jesus said his side were preparing hard for the clash.
“Preparing is not by giving rest,” he said. “We still have more titles and work for the players. Every match is important for us.”
Neymar hails title-winning Al-Hilal team-mates, says he is ‘impatient’ to return to action
- Al-Hilal clinched the Roshn Saudi League title after a 4-1 win over Al-Hazem, but Brazilian superstar has missed most of the season through injury
RIYADH: Neymar has praised his Al-Hilal team-mates for winning the Roshn Saudi League title in his absence, and revealed he is eagerly awaiting a return to action next season.
The Brazilian superstar attacker joined Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain last summer but has missed most of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in October on international duty.
Neymar made three Roshn Saudi League appearances before his injury, recording three assists as Al-Hilal won two and drew one of the matches in which he featured.
His final league club appearance of the season, a 2-0 win over Al-Shabab at the end of September, marked the first in a world record run that saw Al-Hilal win an incredible 34 matches in succession.
Speaking at the title celebrations on Saturday following Al-Hilal’s 4-1 victory over Al-Hazem that clinched the Riyadh club’s 19th Saudi Arabian league crown, Neymar said: “I am very happy obviously. Winning titles is always good. The best thing would have been being on the pitch, but I am so happy for my team-mates.
@neymarjr can't wait to be back! #yallaRSL pic.twitter.com/ZA13NltuH4
— Roshn Saudi League (@SPL_EN) May 11, 2024
“I am fine. I am feeling good. I am impatient to be back on the pitch. The fans are unbelievable. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to give them the happiness they deserve but you can be sure that next season we are going to have a lot of fun.”
Unbeaten domestically this season, Al-Hilal clinched the Roshn Saudi League title with three matches to spare, winning 29 of their 31 games thus far. Nearest challengers Al-Nassr are 12 points behind. Al-Hilal’s next match sees them travel to Al-Nassr for the Riyadh derby, which takes place at Al-Awwal Park on Friday May 17.
Al-Hilal’s top flight world football record run earlier this season saw them overtake Welsh club The News Saints’ winning streak of 27 games in 2016-17. Prior to that, the record stood for 44 years following Dutch giants Ajax’s 26-game winning run between 1971 and 1972.
Star duos lead Celtics, Mavs to NBA playoff victories
- Tatum scored 33 points and Brown 28 as top seeds Boston, stunned by the Cavaliers on their home court in Game 2, beat the Cavs 106-93 in Cleveland to take a 2-1 lead
- Irving scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half and Doncic scored 22 points and had 15 rebounds as the Mavericks rallied for a 105-101 victory
LOS ANGELES: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined to score 61 points to fire the Boston Celtics to a bounce-back NBA playoff win over Cleveland on Saturday as Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic led Dallas over Oklahoma City.
Tatum scored 33 points and Brown 28 as top seeds Boston, stunned by the Cavaliers on their home court in Game 2, beat the Cavs 106-93 in Cleveland to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal.
For Dallas, Irving scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half and Doncic scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the Mavericks rallied for a 105-101 victory that put them up 2-1 against Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City.
The Celtics emerged from a nip-and-tuck first quarter with a two-point lead and never trailed again.
“We just wanted to bounce back,” Tatum said after they pushed their advantage to 23 points by opening the third quarter on a 14-0 scoring run.
“Essentially our back was against the wall, so it was a good test for us to see how we respond,” Tatum said. “We were up for the challenge.”
Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points for the Cavaliers, but appeared to tweak his troublesome left knee in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland halted Boston’s third-quarter spurt with a 9-0 run of their own.
But the Celtics had an answer for every Cleveland surge and the Cavs could not get any closer than nine points behind in the final period.
In Dallas, the Mavericks dug deep in the face of another bruising defensive effort from the Thunder.
Irving’s second-half star turn included a floater that pushed the Dallas lead to five points with 39.3 seconds remaining.
Slovenian star Doncic took another pounding, including a hard fall flat on his back after a mid-air collision with Luguentz Dort, and said he tweaked his sprained right knee as the game ended.
“We got the win, that’s all that matters,” said Doncic, who when asked what was hurting the most — his knee, his back or his sore ankle — said “everything.”
“I think I’m battling,” he said. A day without travel before the Mavs host Game 4 on Monday was welcome, he added.
P.J. Washington led the Mavs with 27 points and Dereck Lively added 12 off the bench to help Dallas withstand a 31-point performance from Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Both teams struggled to get their offenses firing in the first quarter, which ended with Dallas up by three.
Oklahoma City connected on 60 percent of their shots in the second quarter to take a 52-51 half-time lead and pushed their advantage to 65-55 with an 11-0 scoring burst in the third.
The Mavs responded with a 16-0 run that featured a huge dunk by Washington and was capped by his three-pointer that pushed their lead to 71-65.
The run energized the American Airlines Center crowd, but Oklahoma City quickly cut the lead to one before the Mavs responded again.
Irving connected on a pair of three-pointers and fed Daniel Gafford for a dunk before Tim Hardaway Jr. closed the third quarter with a three-pointer that put Dallas up 82-78.
Irving, who handed out seven assists as he focused early on getting his teammates involved, said one Dallas coach told him he’d left it a bit late to make a scoring push.
But Doncic said his contribution was “amazing.”
“He’s doing it all on both ends of the floor,” Doncic said.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said his young team — with an average age of just over 23 — got a little sloppy in the third quarter to squander a golden chance to grab a win in Dallas.
“There’s a lot of things we can learn from,” he said.
Nadal eyes French Open despite Rome exit as Djokovic laughs off bottle drama
- Nadal: Physically I have some issues, but not probably yet enough to say I’m not playing in the most important event of my tennis career. Let’s see what’s going on
- World No. 1 Djokovic donned a cycling crash helmet on his way to practice to show that he was fit
ROME: Rafael Nadal said Saturday that he is leaning toward playing at the French Open despite his second-round elimination in Rome, as Novak Djokovic laughed off being hit by a bottle which briefly cast doubt on his continued participation.
Clay-court icon Nadal had previously said that he would only play at the French Open, where he has won a record 14 titles, if he feels competitive after a raft of injury problems over the last two years which have left him languishing 305th in the world rankings.
And the manner of his elimination in his first ever encounter with Hubert Hurkacz — winner in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 — seemed a step backwards after reaching the last 16 in Madrid, leaving a question mark hanging over his plans.
“The decision, as you can imagine, is not clear in my mind today. But if I have to say what’s my feeling and if my mind is closer one way or the other way, I am going to say to be in Roland Garros and try my best,” Nadal told reporters.
“Physically I have some issues, but not probably yet enough to say I’m not playing in the most important event of my tennis career. Let’s see what’s going on, how I feel myself mentally tomorrow, after tomorrow, and in one week.”
Nadal held his own in the first two games in the first set, which took 26 minutes to complete, but then quickly fell away, Hurkacz winning without dropping a service game and seemingly without breaking a sweat.
That level of dominance over Nadal on clay, much less a court where he has won a record 10 titles, would have been unimaginable a few short years ago.
Hurkacz will face Tomas Etcheverry in the third round after likely ending Nadal’s love affair with Rome as the 22-time Grand Slam winner said that he was “98 percent” sure that he would never again grace the Roman clay.
“No-one will ever have a record like him on this surface. He’s just bigger than the sport at the end of the day,” said Hurkacz.
Second seed Daniil Medvedev kicked off his title defense by beating Jack Draper in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 to set up a third-round clash with qualifier Hamad Medjedovic, while Stefanos Tsitsipas came back from a set down to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 6-4.
World No. 1 Djokovic donned a cycling crash helmet on his way to practice to show that he was fit and ready to face Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo on Sunday afternoon.
Djokovic was left crouching in agony after being accidentally hit on the head by a hard water bottle while signing fan autographs on Friday night.
But he suffered only minor injuries, and on Saturday he joked “Today I came prepared” with a video of him arriving while wearing the helmet.
Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff all reached the last 16 as the women’s tournament begins to heat up.
Osaka is ranked at 173 in the world after taking a break from the tour to have her first child but is in good form, yet to drop a set after beating 10th-seeded Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-3.
“I’m very grateful to be healthy because I know how much hard work it took for me to be here,” said four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, who will next play seventh-seed Zheng Qinwen.
“I feel like I’m just clawing my way back to hopefully where I think I belong.”
World No. 1 Swiatek will next face Angelique Kerber after seeing off Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4 as she bids to become the first woman since Serena Williams to claim a third Rome title.
The 22-year-old came into the event having won the Madrid Open last weekend and will also be gunning for a fourth French Open crown later this month.
Third seed Gauff, meanwhile, has Spain’s Paula Badosa in the last 16 after the US Open champion battled to a 6-1, 0-6, 6-3 victory over Jaqueline Cristian.
Man City two wins away from another Premier League title
- However Arsenal finish the season, the title will be City’s if Pep Guardiola’s team beat both Tottenham away on Tuesday and West Ham at home in the final round on May 19
- Josko Gvardiol scored twice for City to enhance his status as an unlikely goal-getter for Guardiola, with the left back making it five in his last seven games
LONDON: Two more wins.
That’s all that separates Manchester City from becoming English champion for an unprecedented fourth straight year.
The game is up, though, for Burnley, whose relegation from the Premier League was confirmed on Saturday with a game to spare.
On a significant day at both ends of the standings, City racked up another big victory by routing Fulham 4-0 to climb above Arsenal into a two-point lead. The top two each have two games left, and Arsenal face Manchester United next on Sunday.
However Arsenal finish the season, the title will be City’s if Pep Guardiola’s team beat both Tottenham away on Tuesday and West Ham at home in the final round on May 19.
“My players like to play with pressure. They are used to it,” said Guardiola, whose team have won five of the last six Premier Leagues. “The players enjoy this feeling.
“This season is the same — don’t think about anything other than the next game. Focus on winning the next game and then we will see what happens.”
Josko Gvardiol scored twice for City to enhance his status as an unlikely goal-getter for Guardiola, with the left back making it five in his last seven games. Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez also netted at Craven Cottage as City extended its unbeaten run in all competitions to 33 matches.
No team in the 136-year history of English soccer has won the top division for four successive years. It’s the latest record in touching distance of Guardiola’s City, which have also reached the FA Cup final against Man United on May 25.
Burnley down
Two of the three teams which came up to the Premier League for this season are sure to be heading back down to the Championship after one year.
It’s not looking great for the third one, either.
Burnley needed to beat Tottenham to stand a chance of a second straight season in the league but lost 2-1 to join already-relegated Sheffield United in going down.
Luton lost at West Ham 3-1 to stand on the brink of being the third team relegated. It was given a reprieve, however, when fourth-from-last Nottingham Forest squandered a lead and lost at home to Chelsea 3-2.
Forest was three points above Luton and has a superior goal difference of 12. In the final round of games next weekend, Forest visits Burnley and Luton hosts Fulham — and there has to be a huge, and improbable, swing in goal difference for Luton to survive.
Last season, all three promoted teams staved off relegation for the first time since 2018.
Spurs retain hope
Tottenham kept alive its Champions League qualification hopes with the come-from behind win over Burnley, which was secured by Micky van de Ven’s 82nd minute goal.
Spurs’ first goal was also scored by a defender — right back Pedro Porro — to begin the fightback.
Spurs trimmed the gap to fourth-placed Aston Villa to four points, with both teams having two games left. Villa can secure fourth spot and the final automatic Champions League spot from the Premier League by beating Liverpool on Monday.
Other results
In the fight to qualify for the minor European competitions, Newcastle stayed in sixth place — but dropped six points behind Tottenham — by drawing at home with Brighton 1-1. Newcastle are tied on points with Chelsea, with both teams three points ahead of eighth-placed Man United.
Brentford won at Bournemouth 2-1, Crystal Palace beat Wolverhampton 3-1, and Everton defeated Sheffield United 1-0 for a fifth straight home win.
