Juventus readmitted to ECA after failed Super League revolt

Juventus have been readmitted to the European Club Association (ECA) after the Serie A club's failed bid to create a continental Super League, the organisation's chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on Thursday. (X/@Paris_sginfos)
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Updated 10 October 2024
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Juventus readmitted to ECA after failed Super League revolt

  • Juve abandoned the ECA in order to push for the so-called European Super League
  • “I am pleased to welcome Juventus back to our family. Now, all top division clubs in over 20 countries are ECA members,” Al-Khelaifi said during the ECA’s General Assembly

ROME: Juventus have been readmitted to the European Club Association (ECA) after the Serie A club’s failed bid to create a continental Super League, the organization’s chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on Thursday.
Italy’s most successful club, Juve abandoned the ECA in order to push for the so-called European Super League, which was launched in April 2021 but quickly collapsed after fan anger and threats from governing bodies UEFA and FIFA.
“I am pleased to welcome Juventus back to our family. Now, all top division clubs in over 20 countries are ECA members,” Al-Khelaifi, who is also president of Paris Saint-Germain, said during the ECA’s General Assembly in Athens.
Juve, then chaired by Super League crusader Andrea Agnelli, intended to be one of 12 founder clubs alongside the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and a clutch of teams from England’s Premier League.
Since the original Super League project failed, Agnelli has been hit with two lengthy bans from Italian football after the country’s football federation found him and Juventus guilty of a series of financial offenses.
The project is still technically alive and being pushed by A22 Sports Management, who are promoting a redesigned version of the breakaway continental competition with 64 teams playing in three divisions.
In December last year the European Union’s Court of Justice ruled that a ban of the Super League enforced by the sport’s existing governing bodies was against EU law.


Dubai Basketball claim dramatic late victory over SC Derby in ABA League

Updated 04 November 2024
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Dubai Basketball claim dramatic late victory over SC Derby in ABA League

  • 7 different Dubai players scored double digits in 87-86 win in Montenegro

DUBAI: Dubai Basketball extended their winning streak to four games with a nail-biting 87-86 win over SC Derby in the ABA League, improving their overall record to 6-1 for the season.

Isaiah Taylor’s free throw with 10 seconds remaining proved to be the difference on a thrilling night in Montenegro.

Dubai dominated for long periods, leading by six points with less than 90 seconds on clock, but were forced to continually dig deep against a side that posed a constant threat throughout the night.

Ahmet Duverioglu was top scorer for Dubai with 14 points, backing that up with a team-high eight rebounds and three steals. But the key to Dubai’s victory was their team-first mentality, finding the open man when it mattered most. Incredibly, seven different players on Dubai’s roster scored double digits — the first time that has happened this season.

Dubai Basketball’s head coach, Jurica Golemac, said he knew it would be a tough game from the outset but that his team ultimately deserved the win.

He said: “For sure, it was a difficult game, but that’s what we were preparing for. We had to win this three or four times. They play fast, great basketball and have great quality.

“We led for 35 minutes and the victory was deserved, but this is an indication that we still have to work and train a lot.”

Despite Dubai having a 9-point lead at halftime they were forced to contend with American Eric Neal, who was sensational for the home side. Neal dropped 34 points on the night, more than double his season average — shooting an outstanding 8-for-10 (80 percent) from three-point territory — to keep his team in contention. In previous rounds, Neal had struggled beyond the arc, shooting 6-31 (19.35 percent).

Dubai’s lead would stretch to as many as 12 points midway through the second quarter, but in the third the home side would rally again, cutting the difference to two points with ten minutes remaining.

A Nate Mason three, and a free throw from Duverioglu gave Dubai an eight-point lead in the fourth, before a late surge from SC Derby evened the game at 86-86 — thanks to another Eric Neal three with 33 seconds left on the clock.

Like a flashback from their Round 5 victory over Spartak, the ball — and the game — was placed in Isaiah Taylor’s hands with 10 seconds remaining, as he drove to the rim but was fouled on the play. Taylor would convert his second of two free throws to give Dubai the lead, but with time left SC Derby still had the opportunity to answer back.

With a few ticks of the clock remaining, solid defense by Davis Bertans and Awudu Abass forced SC Derby’s star, Eric Neal, to lose the ball, making a game-winning attempt impossible while closing out the win for Dubai.

Next, Dubai Basketball face ABA League giants Partizan Mozzart Bet, in Serbia on Nov. 10 in what some experts are calling a defining test.

After three games on the road, Dubai Basketball will have been away from their home fans for almost a month when they return to the Coca-Cola Arena to face Krka on Nov. 17.


UAE Pro League pauses for international break after breathless start to season

Updated 04 November 2024
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UAE Pro League pauses for international break after breathless start to season

  • Iran superstar Sardar Azmoun’s instant impact has seen Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Club sit joint top of standings with a 100% record

DUBAI: A three-week pause in play provides welcome opportunity to take stock of what has been a breathtaking start to the 2024-2025 ADNOC Pro League.

Fueled by Iran superstar Sardar Azmoun’s instant impact, Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Club sit joint top of the standings with an ominous 100 percent record from six outings.

A reinvigorated Sharjah under their rebounding “trophy machine” Cosmin Olaroiu are keeping pace on 18 points from seven fixtures.

Meanwhile, a talented chasing pack includes Hussein Ammouta taking his winning touch from Jordan to Al-Jazira, and neighbors Al-Wahda under their Celtic-inspired managerial duo of Ronny Deila and assistant Kenny Miller.

Stumbles from holders Al-Wasl and AFC Champions League kings Al-Ain add further intrigue.

Increasingly familiar difficulties for promoted clubs Dibba Al-Hisn and Al-Orooba provide some concern, plus mixed feelings about how the UAE’s World Cup 2026 qualifying mission is progressing.

Here are Arab News’ key talking points from the top flight’s early action.

 

An influx of talent and excitement

The majority of ADNOC Pro League clubs can reflect on a job well done in the transfer market. Most strikingly, Shabab Al-Ahli.

Iran’s Azmoun has gone from Bundesliga title joy at Bayer Leverkusen, to six goals in six starts under the enlightening tutelage of new head coach Paulo Sousa.

Global headlines were claimed by much-improved Jazira’s capture of France and Real Betis magician Nabil Fekir, plus Egypt and Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny. A rise to fourth under the wise Ammouta is testament to this work.

Deila has Wahda in third off the back of 2023-2024 Belgian Pro League glory with Club Brugge.

Kalba’s smart decision to bring astute Middle East-campaigner Vuk Rasovic back to the UAE has them sitting a solid sixth, and ex-Netherlands anchorman Leroy Fer has added ballast to fifth-placed Al-Nasr.

Ex-Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic and Romania’s Euro 2024 lead defender Andrei Burca are in situ at Baniyas, with Jamaica forward Junior Flemmings among the goals for Ajman.

An impressive introduction promises much for the challenges ahead.

 

 

Headache for the holders continues

It is one of Middle East football’s enduring conundrums.

Why can the ADNOC Pro League champions not hold onto their title? On current form, seventh-placed Al-Wasl — nine points off the pace, having played a game more than Shabab Al-Ahli — look likely to join this list.

You have to go back to 2011-2013 for the last time a UAE club, Al-Ain, retained their crown.

In the same period, Al-Nassr (2013-2015) and Al-Hilal (2016-2018; 2019-2022) have dominated the Roshn Saudi League. In the Qatar Stars League, Al-Sadd (2020-2022) and Lekhwiya, now Al-Duhail, have repeated such feats (2013-2015; 2016-2018).

Have the AFC Champions League Elite commitments drained resources? Has injury to Serbia’s Euro 2024 selection Srdan Mijailovic prevented a necessary shake-up of the XI?

Talent runs deep at Wasl, while boss Milos Milojevic’s four major trophies in two seasons with his current employers and Red Star Belgrade point to serious winning pedigree.

Maybe this is just a blip for the storied club who waited 17 years between ADNOC Pro League successes.

 

 

 

What is next for Crespo and Al-Ain?

May’s unexpected, but richly merited, Asian triumph now seems a long time ago for Al-Ain and Hernan Crespo.

The joy from a pulsating campaign has evaporated in 2024/2025 for “The Boss.” They have dropped points in three of their five league outings to sit a distant eighth with two games in hand, while just one point is on the board from three AFC Champions League Elite – League Stage fixtures.

Youth was paramount to their summer recruitment. Porto center-back Fabio Cardoso, 30, was the outlier.

Fiorentina loanee Gino Infantino and Paraguayan prospect Matias Segovia, both 21, are among those to show flashes of promise thus far.

It may be a waiting game to see such talents bloom, as Crespo closes on his one-year anniversary amid disappointment about how this term is unfolding.

 

 

Is the step-up too big?

Another season, another painful start in the ADNOC Pro League for promoted sides.

Last season’s joint-relegation of Hatta and Spain legend Andres Iniesta’s Emirates Club could be matched by Orooba and Dibba Al-Hisn.

Both inhabit the bottom two. They have conceded the most goals and scored the fewest, winning just one of their combined 14 matches.

Dibba Al-Hisn sit bottom this time, despite adding ample international experience through the likes of Tunisia stars Haythem Jouini and Oussama Haddadi, plus Cameroon midfielder Pierre Kunde. Iran forward Mohammad Reza Azadi was Orooba’s headline recruit.

The competition is not getting any kinder.

Even 2022-2023’s survival of Al-Bataeh was at the expense of fellow new boys Dibba Al-Fujairah. Orooba and Emirates were doomed in 2021/2022.

 

 

 

Can the UAE make their World Cup dream come true?

Domestic pursuits take a backseat to international aspirations for much of November.

Paulo Bento’s UAE kicked off World Cup 2026 qualifying’s third round with the welcome surprise of September’s 3-1 win at double Asian Cup holders Qatar. But a slog now appears apparent.

Only two points separate the third-placed Whites — a position good enough for the fourth round — and bottom-placed North Korea. This is in a Group A from which automatic tournament entry appears already sewn up by Iran and would-be-debutants Uzbekistan.

Brazil-born Jazira forward Bruno last month joined the trickle of naturalized options available to Bento. This could turn into a torrent throughout the next 18 months.

What is not, however, flowing freely are ADNOC Pro League goals for potential callups. Last month’s six dedicated attacking options tally only eight 2024/2025 strikes — seven come from Bruno (four) and Wasl veteran Caio Canedo (three).

An intriguing subplot is record UAE and ADNOC Pro League marksman Ali Mabkhout, 34, sitting on five efforts in seven outings since a reinvigorating summer move to Al-Nasr.

Is rapprochement tempting with an icon who played zero minutes at January’s Asian Cup?


Sporting superstars attend opening of WTA Finals

Updated 04 November 2024
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Sporting superstars attend opening of WTA Finals

  • Al-Hilal star Neymar performs official coin toss on first day of the tournament
  • Arab tennis icon Ons Jabeur meets with fans

RIYADH: The stars of world sport came together for the opening day of the Women’s Tennis Association Finals in Riyadh on Saturday, adding excitement to this groundbreaking event.

Brazilian footballer Neymar carried out the official coin toss — which determines who serves first — ahead of the Paolini vs. Rybakina match. Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur also attended the opening ceremony alongside Saudi Tennis Federation President Arij Mutabagani and WTA Finals Tournament Director Garbine Muguruza.

Afterwards, Jabeur engaged with fans in the tournament fan village and took part in a Q&A session on stage, signing autographs and sharing her journey.

The fan zone also welcomed stars from the Ladies European Tour, who competed in the Aramco Team Series earlier in the week at Riyadh Golf Club, including golfers Anne Van Dam, Olivia Cowan and Marianne Skarpnord.

Monday’s play sees Elena Rybakina take on Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng, followed by world number one Aryna Sabalenka facing Jasmine Paolini.

The season-ending finals, which take place until Nov. 9, mark the first WTA tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia. They feature the world’s top eight female singles players and doubles pairings who are competing for the top spot in the PIF WTA World Rankings for the 2024 season.


Sharma, Kohli under fire as India chews over ‘tough pill’ of NZ loss

Updated 04 November 2024
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Sharma, Kohli under fire as India chews over ‘tough pill’ of NZ loss

  • Critics call Indian cricket team aging and low on confidence after 3-0 loss to New Zealand
  • Sharma and Kohli both retired from T20 cricket after the team’s World Cup triumph in June

MUMBAI: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma came under fire Monday as India chewed over a 3-0 Test series home defeat to New Zealand, with critics calling the team aging and low on confidence.

The cricket superpower went down by 25 runs on Sunday in the third Test inside three days at Mumbai for only their second series whitewash at home.

It sealed New Zealand’s historic first-ever Test series triumph on Indian soil.

For India there is little time to fix things — they travel to Australia for a five-match Test series starting on November 22.

“Losing 3-0 at home is a tough pill to swallow and it calls for introspection,” former skipper Sachin Tendulkar wrote on social media.

“Was it lack of preparation, was it poor shot selection or was it lack of match practice?“

India went into the series against the Black Caps second in the ICC Test rankings, behind Australia, and as clear favorites.

But repeated batting collapses — they were 46 all out in their first innings in the opening Test — set alarm bells ringing.

It hardly got much better from there.

“I accept the fact that we were not good enough with the bat in the entire series,” said skipper Rohit.

It particularly showed up the Indian batsmen’s surprising inability to handle spinners on turning pitches in their own back yard.

Mitchell Santner took 13 wickets in the second match while Mumbai-born New Zealander Ajaz Patel took 11 in the third Test to condemn India.

With Australia looming large, the form of 37-year-old Rohit and superstar batsman Kohli, 35, is of particular concern to Indian cricket fans.

Rohit made 91 runs in three matches. Kohli just 93.

“The cold fact is that this is now a team in transition with key figures aging, out of form and low on confidence,” the Times of India newspaper wrote.

“Two of their stalwarts, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, seem to be in a state of terminal batting decline with a strange reluctance to acknowledge it and take corrective action like polishing their game by playing in domestic cricket,” it added.

Indian media reported that all senior players, including Rohit and Kohli, had been advised to play the domestic Duleep Trophy four-day matches, but the players refused due to a “lack of motivation.”

“They should have had some practice, definitely,” former India captain Sunil Gavaskar told the Indian Express.

“I know we beat Bangladesh and therefore it looked as if it was going to be a cakewalk against New Zealand,” Gavaskar added.

“But New Zealand, obviously, had a better attack, with cricketers who have played in India and in the IPL, who have a sense of what Indian pitches do.”

Rohit and Kohli retired from T20 cricket after the team’s World Cup triumph in June.

Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, 38, and Ravindra Jadeja, 35, also suddenly look like age is catching up with them, critics said.


Australia in driving seat after dismissing Pakistan for 203 in first ODI 

Updated 04 November 2024
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Australia in driving seat after dismissing Pakistan for 203 in first ODI 

  • Mohammad Rizwan top-scores with 44 while former captain Babar Azam makes 37 runs 
  • Mitchel Starc, Pat Cummins return figures of 3/33 and 2/39 to put Pakistan on back foot 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani batters floundered against a mix of impressive pace and spin bowling by Australia on Monday as the visitors were dismissed for an unimpressive 203 runs in the first ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). 

Australian fast bowlers Mitchel Starc and Pat Cummins returned figures of 3/33 and 2/39, respectively, to deal early blows to Pakistan and put Australia in the driving seat of the match. Spinner Adam Zampa took 2/64 while Marnus Labuschagne and Sean Abbott finished with 1/5 and 1/34, respectively. 

Pakistani openers Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub fell for 12 and 1, respectively, while former captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan put up some resistance before the former was dismissed by Zampa for 37 (44). Rizwan, Pakistan’s new white-ball captain, made 44 from 71 balls before he was sent to the pavilion. 

Fast bowler Naseem Shah scored 40 runs from 39 balls in a brave effort to ensure Pakistan crossed the 200 threshold before Aussie skipper Cummins removed him. Debutant Irfan Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi scored 22 and 24 runs, respectively. 

“Naseem Shah makes a valiant 40 featuring four sixes as Pakistan make 203,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said. “Over to the bowlers.”

Australia's Pat Cummins, left, celebrates after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Kamran Ghulam during their one day international cricket match in Melbourne, on November 4, 2024. (AP)

Earlier, Cummins won the toss and put Pakistan to bat first. The second ODI between the teams will be played at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on Nov. 8 while both teams will travel to Perth where the third ODI will take place on Nov. 10.

The ODI series will be followed by a three-match T20I series, which will be played on Nov. 14, 16 and 18.

Pakistan and Australia last met in the 50-over format during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Oct. 20 where Australia defeated Pakistan by 62 runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. The last time both sides featured in a bilateral ODI series was in March/April 2022, when Australia visited Pakistan and the hosts won the series 2-1.

Playing XI:

Australia: 1 Matt Short, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Josh Inglis (wk), 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Aaron Hardie, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Pat Cummins (captain), 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Adam Zampa

Pakistan: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk, captain), 5 Kamran Ghulam, 6 Salman Ali Agha, 7 Irfan Khan, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad Hasnain